Seniors industry to boom in aging China

BEIJING - China will be one of the largest markets for old-age services and products as its number of elderly people is on track to make up a quarter of the global total by 2050, said a report released on Tuesday.

The annual work by the China Research Center on Aging (CRCA) estimated that the spending power of Chinese seniors will reach 106 trillion yuan (17.2 trillion US dollars), equaling about 33 percent of China's GDP, by 2050.

The current spending power of China's elderly is about four trillion yuan, about 8 percent of the country's GDP, said the report, which explained that China will have 480 million people over the age of 65 by 2050.

"The elderly will receive higher education, but have fewer children. There will be more empty-nesters [those living alone without children around] and more elderly owning at least two apartments," said Dang Junwu, deputy director of the CRCA.

The report also said the country's nascent industry catering to seniors faces problems such as a lack of policy support and disorganized market order.