Foreign firms upbeat on growth potential in China's senior care market

Foreign nursing service providers remain bullish on the potential of China's eldercare market, citing the country's vast population and growing aging demographic.

At an investment promotion event, "Invest in China," held in Xi'an, co-hosted by the Ministry of Commerce and the Shaanxi provincial government, executives from leading international companies, including multinational corporations, highlighted the lucrative opportunities brought by the burgeoning service industry, particularly the elderly care sector.

In 2023, China’s population aged 60 and above reached 297 million, accounting for 21.1 percent of the total population. The size of China's elderly products market also reached 5 trillion yuan (approximately 548.57 billion U.S. dollars), offering a wide array of products in large quantities. Orpea Group, a French-funded elderly care and rehabilitation enterprise, views China's aging population as a major driver of the market's enormous potential.

Benoit Garcin, CEO of Orpea China, praised China's efforts to open up the eldercare market, citing a 2022 policy guideline aimed at attracting foreign investment, which includes eldercare services, age-friendly household appliances, and the development of elderly care products, among others.

"I've seen the high-quality development of the eldercare industry, and I'm confident in its future prospects. Orpea has already opened two premium elderly care centers in Nanjing and Shanghai, with plans to expand our services to other regions across China," he said.

Some foreign companies have launched their investment strategies in China's eldercare sector, initially targeting the eastern regions before expanding into the central and western parts.

"We are optimistic about sectors such as new energy chemicals, high-end manufacturing, electronic information technology, and new materials, all of which have captured our interest. Our investment of over 6 billion U.S. dollars in China has largely been concentrated in coastal areas, but the central and western regions will be a priority for our future expansion," said Chen Qihua, vice president of Linde Greater China.

China's silver economy is currently valued at around 7 trillion yuan (approximately 960 billion U.S. dollars) and is expected to grow to about 30 trillion yuan (approximately 4.13 trillion U.S. dollars) by 2035.

Foreign firms upbeat on growth potential in China's senior care market

Chinese and Russian naval forces kicked off the second phase of their joint military exercise codenamed "Northern/Interaction-2024" at a military port in Russia on Saturday.

The two sides will jointly complete multiple subjects in the coming days, including naval and air escort, alert defense, and firepower strikes.

At the opening ceremony, the national anthems of both countries were played, and then Chinese and Russian commanders respectively delivered speeches.

The two sides agreed that China and Russia are important forces for safeguarding world peace and development, promoting regional prosperity and stability, and advancing international fairness and justice, and that the exercise will deepen the level of strategic coordination between the two militaries and enhance their ability to jointly respond to security threats.

After the ceremony, the Chinese and Russian participating warships left the dock and maneuvered to the exercise areas.

The second phase of the exercise will be carried out in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk, during which the two forces will conduct red-blue confrontation drills focusing on joint air defense, ship-aircraft anti-submarine coordination, naval operations in formations, and other subjects involving the actual use of weapons.

"The 'Northern/Interaction-2024' drills are a major exercise project determined according to an annual schedule and mutual consensus between China and Russia. Over the past few days, we have summarized and exchanged experience with the Russian side on the first phase of the exercise, and conducted comprehensive consultations on the details of forces coordination and the actual use of weapons for the second phase, laying a solid foundation for the following force maneuver," said Li Mingxu, a Chinese participating officer.

The first phase of the exercise ran from Sept. 11 to 15, during which the naval and air forces from both sides completed multi-subject tasks in the waters and airspace of the Sea of Japan to test the tactical command coordination and joint operation capabilities of the two sides.

Chinese, Russian naval forces kick off second phase of joint military exercise