China’s desire to seize the longevity opportunity
May 2022
Global Affairs Canada has updated its 2019 market report “Senior Care in China: Fast Growth in imperative”. An up to date 31-page report on “China’s Desire to Seize the Longevity Opportunity” is now available to help Canadian senior care organizations seeking opportunities in China understand the latest policies affecting the industry, long term care infrastructure, retirement payment schemes, market opportunities and challenges, as well as tradeshows and conferences.
Please note that in order to receive a complete copy of this report, your organization must be a qualified client of the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service (TCS). The TCS is committed to supporting Canadian companies and organizations that have meaningful economic ties to Canada, the potential to contribute significantly to Canada's economic growth, and the capacity and commitment to internationalization.
For a full copy of the report, please contact Ms. Dana Duan, Trade Commissioner in Beijing at nan.duan@international.gc.ca.
Executive Summary
China has the world’s largest elderly population. Facing rapid aging and societal changes, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, China is actively promoting the construction of infrastructure to strengthen social security for elderly individuals.
The 14th Five-Year Senior Care Development Plan (2021-2025), a national guide for the senior care sector development released in early 2022, proposed five major development goals and nine sector action points to foster improvement by 2025.
Meanwhile, the Chinese central government will continue to open its senior care industry to new entrants including those from overseas.
China’s senior care industry is still being transformed from “phase 0 to 1” through policy incentives and supervision, integration, as well as technology/innovation.
To meet the growing demand for long-term care, China is building a long-term care industry chain based on the ”90-7-3 model” (the goal is to have 90 percent of the elderly receive home-based care, 7 percent receive community care, and 3 percent receive residential care).
However, a lack of caregivers, industry standards and limited operational scale and financing instruments continue to impede development. The government has been encouraging the private sector to provide pragmatic solutions.
Thus, there are opportunities for new and existing industry players to form synergies by collaborating with asset managers and insurers, real estate developers and senior care giants from overseas.
This report is prepared for Canadian senior care enterprises seeking opportunities in China. It highlights several strategic factors that will influence the industry, as well as explain the most recent developments and their strategic implications.
On terminology: The term ‘older’ is used to define members of the population over age 60 according to the Law of the People's Republic of China. It is used in this report interchangeably with “senior,” “aged,” and “elderly.”
Table of contents
Chapter 1: The 14th Five-Year Senior Care Development Plan (2021-2025) - regulation and demand are triggering a trillion-level market in China
- 1.1 China enters the aging “plateau”.
- 1.2 Driven by health expenditure and economic growth, China shows great potential.
- 1.3 The 14th Five-Year Senior Care Development Plan (2021-2025): Long term elderly care receives considerable attention.
- 1.4 With swift action, China aims to accelerate private investment including those from overseas.
Chapter 2: “90-7-3 model”: China’s long-term care definition build and approach
- 2.1 Defining long-term care in China.
- 2.2 Long-term care infrastructure to be built.
- 2.3 Retirement payment: Chinese government strives to transform its payment system.
- 2.4 Improving payments for senior care industry.
- 2.5 Booming private pension market creating room for asset managers and insurers from overseas.
- 2.6 A user-pay system to supplement long term care is on trail.
Chapter 3: Market entry: opportunities and challenges
- 3.1 Market opportunities.
- 3.2 Market players at a glance.
- 3.3 Top issues and challenges.
Appendices
- A.1 Major associations
- A.2 Major trade fairs and conferences
