實時焦點:'Silver' economy grows with aging population
Businessesfindopportunitiesingivingseniorsmoremeaningfullives
(資料圖)
Aftersayinggoodbyetohergrandchildattheschoolgates,HuChunmeistartedtothinkofwaystopasstheday.
HumigratedfromherhomevillageinHubeiprovincetoBeijingtohelpherdaughterwithchild-rearingabouteightyearsago.SincehergranddaughterstartedschoolinAugust,sheknewshehadtoadjusttoanewroutine.
"It"smuchharderthanIthought.Itriedguangchangwu—astyleofdancingasagroupinpublic—withfriendsImetinthecommunity,goingouttorestaurantsandlearningcalligraphy…butgotboredverysoon.IeventhoughtoffindingajobbutallIcoulddowascleaningandrecyclingbottles,"shesaid.
Huisnotaloneinattemptingtofindmeaningintheirretirementlife.Asthegroupwithprobablythemostdisposableincomewithouthousingoreducationpressures,seniors"demandforaqualitylifeissupportingtherapiddevelopmentofthe"silver"economy.
AccordingtotheMinistryofCivilAffairs,bytheendof2021,therewere267millionpeopleaged60orabove,accountingfor18.9percentofthetotalpopulation.
LiBanghua,deputyheadoftheministry"snursingservicesdepartment,saidatanewsconferencethatthetotalpopulationofthoseaged60andaboveislikelytosurpass300millionbytheendof2025,accountingformorethan20percentofthetotalpopulation.
"Developingtheelderlyserviceindustryisgrowingtobeanimportantwaytocopewiththeagingpopulation,"hesaid.
Thegrowinggroupisalsopossessingincreasingspendingpower.AreportbyconsultancyiiMediashowedthatin2021,themarketsizeoftheelderlycareindustryreached8.8trillionyuan($1.3trillion),ayear-on-yeargrowthof22.3percent,andthemarketsizeisexpectedtoreach12trillionyuanin2023.
Thegovernmenthasalsorolledoutaseriesofmeasurestosupporttheelderlycaresector.TheMinistryofCivilAffairsandtheMinistryofFinancehavearrangedatotalof1.1billionyuantosupport42regionsinbuildingin-houseseniorcarebedsandprovidinghome-basedservicesfordisabledelderlypeopleandthosewithfinancialdifficulties.
The"in-houseseniorcarebeds"referstoamechanismthatthegovernmenthasbeenpromoting,throughwhichseniorscanenjoyprofessionalnursingandhealthmonitoringservicesathomethesamewaytheywouldinanursinghome.
"Comparedwiththepast,anincreasingnumberofseniorstodayarestartingtoembraceavarietyofrecreationalactivitiesandarefamiliarwiththeinternet.Manyofthemarealsochangingtheirviewfromsavingmoretopayingmoretoenjoylife,whichisanimportantdriverofrelevantbusinessgrowth,"saidDuanMingjie,founderandCEOofAgeClub,aconsultingandincubationserviceplatformfocusingonseniorcarebusinesses.
Justrecently,agroupof16retiredpeoplewashavingfuntravelingtoHengdianWorldStudios,oneoftheworld"slargeststudioslocatedinZhejiangprovince,toshoota"film"thatreplicatesclassicscenesofapopularTVshowcalledEmpressesinthePalace.
Thegroupofpeople,withanaverageageof62,weredressedinQingDynastyclothing,woredelicatemakeup,andtriedtoperformlikeprofessionalactorsandactresseswithvividfacialexpressionsandvoices.
The"film"soonwentviralacrosssocialmediaplatformsandbecameamongthetop10trendytopicsonWeibo.
Inthe"BehindtheScenes"video,participantswereexcitedabouttheexperience,sayingithelpstoachievethedreamofactingthattheyhadsincetheywereteenagers.Theactingexperiencecostthemanaverageof4,000yuanperperson.
BaiYun,oneoftheparticipants,saidthatshewishestotryanythingnewandinteresting.Uponhearingabouttheactivity,Bairegisteredwithouthesitation."IhaddreamsofbeinganactresssinceIwasateenagerbutendedupworkinginanofficeforhalfmylife."
ShealsolearnedtowalkthecatwalkandwenttoShanghaiFashionWeek."Ijustwanttobeadelicatewomanandagegracefully."
Althoughsomenetizenspointedoutthattheparticipantsstillcouldn"thidetheirnervousnessinfrontofthecamera,hadaccentsinreadingthelinesandslightlystiffmovements,theylookedenergeticandappearedtoenjoytheshooting,whichmakesitquitetouching.
PengKai,directoroftheShanghaiRuichiFashionClubandalsotheorganizeroftheactivity,saidhecameupwiththeideatohelpseniorsachievetheirdreams."It"spossibletobecoolinone"s60sor70s,"Pengsaid.
InSeptember,Ruichialsoorganizedateamofover40seniorstowalkinarunwayshowatShanghaiFashionWeek.
Duansaidthattheseniorcaresectorisseeinganincreasingnumberofcompaniesdevelopbusinessesrelevanttocultureandentertainment,whileinthepast,themajorityofbusinessesinthesectorfocusedonnursing.
"Withthepenetrationrateoftheinternetconstantlyincreasingamongtheelderly,agrowingnumberofseniorsareexposedtolargeamountsofinformationnow.Manyofthemfollowthetrends,arewillingtoembracechangesandareopen-minded,andhavegreatpotentialforconsumption.Areassuchasconsumerproductsforseniors,entertainment,servicesandhealthmanagementareseeingabigopportunityfordevelopment,"Duansaid.
HesaidthatagrowingnumberofcompaniesarespecializinginbusinesssectorsthatlaunchproductsandservicesfortheelderlyandmorestartupsfocusontheareadespitetheCOVID-19challengesinthepastthreeyears.
InJuly,AlibabacooperatedwiththeChinaAssociationofGerontologyandGeriatricstoestablisharesearchlabthatfocusesonthesilvereconomytopromoteanupgradeinseniorconsumptionandexplorethepotentialtodevelopavarietyofrelevantbusinesses.
SuBochuan,directorofpublicaffairs,saidthatonAlibaba"se-commerceplatforms,thetotalnumberofconsumersovertheageof50hasreachedabout100million."Ourfocusofbusinessesincludeapparel,homecare,homeappliances,healthcareandfood."
"Fromtheconsumptiontrendweobservedthroughourplatform,wefoundthatthesupplygrowthofsenior-friendlybathroomfixturesandfurniturefarexceedsthegrowthrateofothercategories.Alibabahasestablishedateamtograspthebusinessopportunityinthesector,"Susaid.
HomeappliancebrandssuchasMideaGroup,HaierandXiaomiarealsosteppingupeffortstodeveloptechnology-embeddedproductsthatcanmakeseniorlifeeasierandmorecomfortable,suchasasuiteofsmartbathroomswithvoicecontrol,anemergencycallbuttononthefloorincaseofemergenciesandautomaticallyadjusteddesignstoensureproperwatertemperaturesandlight.
Companiesarealsorampingupeffortsinthegamingsector.Recently,Jubensha,ascriptedrole-playinggamethatispopularamongyoungsters,isgainingincreasingfavoramongtheelderly.
The173NetworkGroup,agameproducertargetedatseniors,haslaunchedaseriesofJubenshagames,whosebackgroundsarefilmsthatwerepopularamongtheelderly.
"Thegameswerepopularamongtheusers.Theylikeitwhenwecallthem"elderlyyoungsters"insteadofseniors.Theyareveryopenaboutnewthingsandeagertotrydifferentrecreationalactivities,"saidYeKejia,CEOofthecompany.
"Wefoundthatanimportantdriverofseniorconsumptionisthattheyneedcompanionshipandwaystoexpandtheirsociallives.Agameisaverygoodwaytoachievethatgoal,"Yesaid.
Yesaidthecompanyalsohastrainingservicesthatteachtheelderlytobecomegamehosts."Wefoundthatmanymiddle-agedandelderlypeopleareverywillingtogobacktoworkinfearoffindingthemselves"useless"tofamilyandsociety.Welaunchedsuchtraininginhopesthattheycanbothfindmeaningintheirretirementlifeandalsohavefun."
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