Shanghai Time Bank
Shanghai runs a citywide time bank for elderly care under its Huzhu Yanglao Shiguanghui program. Volunteers earn one time credit for each hour of care they give an older resident, up to four hours a day. Credits sit in a personal account on a WeChat mini program. From age 65 a saver can spend them on care, pass them to family, or donate them. Pilots in eight districts since 2019 logged more than 10,000 volunteers, about 129,000 service hours and nearly 16,000 older people served. City rules in force since January 2026 call for every district to run the program this year and for credits to clear citywide by 2028.
The largest Chinese city formalizing labor-backed care credits: debt-free hour-for-hour issuance under published municipal rules, verified pilot traction across eight districts, and a dated path to citywide clearing by 2028. Scores like its Nanjing sibling: strong issuance design held down by single-state administration.
M69 Score
Scored against the Money2069 Manifesto — see methodology. Higher = more aligned.
Detailed Rating Breakdown
Issuance Model3x4.0
Credits are created debt-free by verified hours of care: one hour served equals one credit, capped at four hours a day, with no ceiling on accumulation and redemption from age 65. Rule-based but issued through a single municipal administrator, so not permissionless.
Spending Power Stability2x3.0
The unit is one hour of care, structurally anchored to labor time rather than a price index. Stable by definition inside the program; long-run redemption depends on the city honoring stored hours, which the 2026 measures and the 2028 citywide-clearing target formalize.
Fiat Independence & Interoperability2x3.0
No fiat anywhere in the mechanism: hours in, hours out, credits transferable and donatable. The surrounding platform and star-tier rewards are government funded, so the system leans on municipal fiat budgets even though the currency itself does not.
Traction2x3.0
Verified pilot numbers: 10,420 registered time partners, 129,176 stored hours, 15,851 elderly served across 8 of 16 districts (municipal figures, Oct 2023). Binding rollout: every district in 2026, district-level clearing 2027, citywide 2028. Band 10K-100K participants.
Sovereignty1.0
Fully state-run: the municipal Civil Affairs Bureau owns the rules, the platform, and the accounts. A single entity can halt it; accounts are custodial and real-name.
Governance2.0
Rules are published as numbered municipal documents (2025-11 measures, effective Jan 2026) with defined star tiers and redemption terms, but participants have no formal voice; changes are unilateral bureau decisions.
Resilience2.0
Nearly 30 years of local lineage (Hongkou pilots since 1998) and now an institutionalized citywide mandate, but everything runs on one government platform and municipal funding; no independent fallback.
Inclusivity3.0
Open to healthy residents 18 and up at zero cost, aimed at the oldest and neediest residents, with free credit grants to hardship cases. Requires a smartphone and real-name government registration.