Economic Watch: China's silver economy unlocks potential in sync with growing global need for elderly care

BEIJING, July 26 (Xinhua) -- With population aging as a common global challenge, there is a burgeoning demand for innovative and comprehensive elderly care service, which unleashes potential for emerging industries.

With a growing aging population, China is expected to ride the trend and unlock rapid development of potential industries in the silver economy, drawing investment from foreign enterprises.

In 2023, people aged 60 and above in China amounted to 297 million, accounting for 21.1 percent of its total population. Experts have predicted that the number will surpass 400 million around 2035 and is expected to reach 500 million by 2050.

Meanwhile, China's silver economy now stands at around 7 trillion yuan (960 billion U.S. dollars), and is expected to reach around 30 trillion yuan (4.13 trillion dollars) by 2035.

Japan and the European Union have chosen to promote the silver economy when entering an advanced stage of aging, transforming the potential of an aging population structure into driving forces of domestic consumption by focusing on the needs and preferences of the elderly population.

The Netherlands is exploring digital applications in the field of home care; Japan is vigorously promoting nursing robots and assistant digital technologies; and Britain is developing fundamental research and business model innovation in the silver economy, according to Hu Zuquan, a researcher with China's State Information Center.

The silver economy encompasses a wide range of industries, has a long industrial chain, and exhibits diverse business forms.

Business leaders in relevant industries worldwide see opportunities in collaboration with Chinese companies and have made large investments in China.

Sindora Living, a Singapore-based corporation of nursing homes and residential care facilities, opened a high-end elderly care institution in May in Nanjing, the capital city of Jiangsu Province in east China.

"We see a booming market for elderly care in China in the future, and we chose to invest in China," said Nathaniel Farouz, managing director of Sindora Living.

Yada Panasonic Community is another example of foreign collaboration in the industry. In 2023, the community, aimed at providing advanced elderly care integrated into daily life, was opened in Yixing of Jiangsu Province, along with a Wellness Smart Town infused with Panasonic technologies in aging care and healthy lifestyle.

"Panasonic brought more than 20 years of experience accumulated in Japan, where the aging problem is more severe, to China, and fully participated in the building planning, landscape construction and space design of Yada Panasonic Community to create a safe and comfortable life for consumers," said Tetsuro Homma, executive vice president of Panasonic Holdings Corporation.

"Yada Panasonic Community is the largest smart retirement community of Panasonic in China, and also is the first named community of Panasonic overseas," he added.

Elderly care-related industries in China are currently mainly concentrated in basic services such as catering, nursing and health care, said Zhang Shixin, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission. The diversified and personalized needs of the senior community have not been effectively met, which contain huge development opportunities, Zhang said.

In 2023, the size of China's elderly products market reached 5 trillion yuan (548.57 billion dollars) with diverse types and large quantities. Meanwhile, there were more than 490,000 elderly care-related businesses in China at the end of 2023.

Jack Wu, managing partner of Acadia Advisory Group, told Xinhua that as a massive market, China is a good place for British investors.

"Take the elderly-care market as an example, China has a rapidly aging population, while the UK has one of the leading elderly-care industries in the world, and this will become a sector with huge investment potential between the two countries," said Wu.