China Advances Silver-Haired Economy Amid Aging Trend
BEIJING, March 30 (Reporter) — As China’s aging population continues to grow, the country is actively advancing the development of the silver-haired economy, which connects people’s livelihoods and industrial growth, according to a report from Guangming Net. By the end of 2025, the number of people aged 60 and above in China had exceeded 320 million, an increase of 16.49 million from the previous year, with projections showing the elderly population will surpass 400 million around 2035.
The rising elderly population, while bringing challenges to improving people’s livelihoods, has also created opportunities for the silver-haired economy — the sum of all economic activities providing products and services for the elderly, covering food, clothing, housing, transportation, entertainment, medical care and nursing care. This sector includes three promising segments: the “elderly-oriented economy” providing products and services for the elderly, the “age-prepared economy” for an elderly-friendly society, and the “elderly-empowered economy” helping the elderly contribute their wisdom and experience.
Suzhou, one of the first cities in China to enter an aging society, has fostered a silver-haired consumer market worth over 100 billion yuan driven by its large elderly population and their strong consumption capacity. The city has regarded the silver-haired economy as a new growth engine for economic transformation and livelihood improvement, with systematic planning and innovative practices yielding tangible results.
Shenzhen, a young and dynamic megacity with a relatively low aging rate, has also taken proactive measures to develop the silver-haired economy. As early as 2021, it took the lead nationwide in establishing a municipal state-owned elderly care and nursery platform — Shenzhen Happiness and Health Industry (Group) Co., Ltd. In recent years, this platform has built Shenye·Health Hub, the first elderly products mall in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Leveraging the special activity for promoting consumption of intelligent home aging-adaptation renovations in Shenzhen, it has innovated consumption scenarios, integrated online and offline platforms, and linked the Shenzhen International Smart Elderly Care Industry Expo, community-embedded elderly care facilities, online malls and various elderly services to build a consumption network of “exhibition + online-offline mall + experience store”.
Despite the huge market potential, fraud targeting the elderly occasionally occurs in the silver-haired economy. Issues such as false advertising and misrepresentation in live-streaming shopping have troubled many elderly consumers. During this year’s CCTV 3·15 Gala, a private domain live stream titled “Life Code” was exposed for exploiting the elderly’s health anxiety, packaging ordinary medicines and health products as “panacea” with false theories, fabricated authority and exaggerated effects, selling products costing tens of yuan for hundreds or even thousands of yuan.
Regulating the sound development of the silver-haired economy requires strengthening the protection of the elderly’s rights and interests and improving governance mechanisms to precisely safeguard their consumption safety. This year’s Government Work Report clearly states that China will thoroughly implement the national strategy of actively responding to population aging, expand the supply of inclusive elderly care services, improve the urban community elderly care service network, develop rural elderly care services, and implement consumption subsidy programs for elderly care services for moderately and severely disabled elderly.
It also emphasizes developing integrated medical and elderly care services, actively developing the elderly human resources, formulating measures to promote the high-quality development of the silver-haired economy, and improving supportive policies for elderly products, elderly care finance and resort-based elderly care. In the first year of the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, various regions, departments and industries are exploring ways to address the difficulties and pain points in the silver-haired economy, striving to achieve a win-win situation between improved people’s livelihoods and economic growth while enhancing the well-being of the elderly.
