PUBLISHED DECISION GUIDE
China to Open Elderly Care Market to Private Capital
The central government has approved measures to lower market entry barriers and encourage private investment in senior care services.
China's central leading team for comprehensively deepening reform, headed by President Xi Jinping, has approved new policy measures to fully open the elderly care market and encourage private capital into the sector, according to the Economic Information Daily.
Independently written English guidance based on cited public sources. Every public guide is human reviewed; it is not an official translation of the source publisher.
Government approves opening of elderly care market
The central leading team for comprehensively deepening reform, headed by President Xi Jinping, approved the Several Opinions on Opening up the Elderly Care Market and Improving Senior Care Services at a meeting on Tuesday. The team suggested lowering the market access threshold and encouraging more private capital into the sector.
The team also proposed to reform State-run elderly care institutions and improve elderly care services in community and rural areas to ensure more elderly people enjoy quality senior care services.
China's aging population context
Under international standards, a country or region is considered an "aging society" when the number of people aged 60 or above reaches 10 percent or more. China has had over 10 percent of people aged 60 since 1999.
Official data showed that at the end of 2015, China had 222 million people aged 60 years or above, accounting for 16.1 percent of its total population. The number of people aged over 65 years totaled 143 million, representing about 10.5 percent of the total population.
Expert perspective on improving elderly care
Experts said improving elderly care services and actively tackling the aging population issue was "a pressing task" for China to build a moderately prosperous society.
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