Businessesfindopportunitiesingivingseniorsmoremeaningfullives

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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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