[Senior Trend] China Aging Before Getting Rich, Going All Out in Senior Industry

China has been a country that has enjoyed the effects of a 'demographic dividend' until now. A massive population, young and inexpensive labor force have been the driving forces of the country's growth for a long time. In 2021, at China's largest political event, the Two Sessions, the national 'Five-Year Plan' was announced. It included a policy to gradually extend the retirement age. Premier Li Keqiang stated that the number of seniors in China already exceeds 200 million and welcomed foreign investment and corporate entry into this industry.

There is a saying, 'Mibu Xianlao (未富先老),' which means the country has aged before becoming wealthy. It is a self-deprecating phrase indicating a bleak future. According to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the population aged 65 and over is increasing by 10 million annually, and it is predicted that China will become a super-aged society by 2033. Although the 'one family, one child policy' was abolished in 2016 and the 'three-child policy' was introduced in 2021, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the number of newborns is the lowest since the founding of the Communist Party.

There is a Chinese proverb that says, "Under the policy, there is always a countermeasure" (上有政策, 下有對策). Just like this proverb, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the senior market in China is rapidly developing. One example is the convenience of information and communication technology (ICT). During the lockdowns, seniors who were distant from the digital environment experienced immense inconvenience. From ordering groceries essential for survival to consulting on medical conditions, everything was done through apps.

In December 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China instructed 42 of the most used applications, including WeChat, Taobao, Douyin, and Tencent, to develop senior-friendly services. They clearly set standards such as increasing font size, enlarging icon sizes, using clearer typefaces, reducing unnecessary advertisements to shorten loading times, and ordered the development of 'senior-exclusive programs.' Since this intervention, the situation has changed comprehensively. On online shopping malls, children can shop simultaneously with their parents through multi-party calls, and non-face-to-face medical consultations and medicine delivery services have become more convenient. Offline, franchises that serve as senior rest areas where wheelchairs or medical devices can be experienced and purchased have also diversified.

The taxi app 'Didi Chuxing' established a specialized team for elderly call taxis. They developed products such as one-click call taxis. Additionally, for the elderly, it became possible to register up to 10 frequently used addresses.

Meanwhile, there is a social networking service (SNS) where seniors are the main customers. It is called Meipian, and it currently has nearly 100 million subscribers. Seniors, who relatively have more free time and a strong desire to express themselves, are the primary customers. It allows sharing 100 photos or videos within one minute, and edited albums or videos can be easily shared to other SNS platforms like WeChat and Weibo. Within the app, e-commerce and advertising are conducted, and a printing service that turns online photos into analog photo albums is provided, generating revenue.

The Chinese senior market views aging not as a crisis but as an opportunity, creating various senior businesses that utilize the potential of the elderly population. It is also an open field where the Chinese government welcomes foreign companies to enter, so it seems it could become a future source of income for us.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.