Abstract: With the deepening of population aging in China， it is particularly important to build a long-term care system from the top level design. The main obstacle to building a long-term care system to cover the population as a whole is where the money comes from and who will deliver services. Learning from the international experience， the issuance of time currency as a medium of mutual endowment intergenerational exchange is tentatively put forward， which can effectively solve such problems as financial sources and services delivered， and help to build a universal long-term care system as soon as possible. Based on the media， value scale， means of payment， means of storage， the functions of time currency as a type of currency are explored. Besides money currency， time currency promises to become an alternative currency people trust. Consequently， the issuance of time currency of national credit guarantee is put forward， i.e.， time currency serves as the medium to build an informal care support system， encourage people to take care of the elderly spontaneously， and lessen the social risks of the elderly unattended. The research shows that building a long-term care system with time currency as the medium will open up a new way for the establishment of a healthy aging society.

Key words: long-term care system, time currency, population aging