Policy Brief丨Du Peng: Promote the high-quality development of the silver economy

Du Peng

He is a researcher at the National Institute of Development and Strategy, Renmin University of Chinese

Director of the Institute of Gerontology

Summary

The mainland has gradually entered an aging society, and actively responding to the aging of the population is closely related to every family and the whole society. The development of the silver economy is an important way to solve the practical difficulties of the elderly and improve their quality of life, and at the same time help to cultivate new momentum for the economic development of the mainland. To promote the high-quality development of the silver economy, first, we must encourage the participation of multiple subjects, implement embedded elderly care services, and ensure the economic benefits of service institutions in the process of accurately serving the elderly; second, we must realize the precise docking of supply and demand, adapt to the changes of the elderly group, meet their diverse needs, and expand the domestic demand for the development of the silver economy; third, we must strengthen scientific and technological support, apply more scientific and technological achievements to the design of elderly care products, and realize the effective docking of scientific research achievements and the market, and improve the supply capacity of products and services.

1. The background and current situation of the development of the silver economy

Affected by the birth peak in 1963, 2023 has become the year with the largest net increase in China's elderly population. As the "baby boomer" generation born from 1962 to 1973 gradually enters old age, the aging of the Chinese population will show a more rapid growth trend in the next decade. According to population projections, by 2035, the proportion of the elderly population aged 60 and above in the mainland will exceed 30%, and the total number of elderly people will exceed 400 million. After that, the total elderly population on the mainland will peak around 2052, and the total elderly population aged 60 and above will reach 520 million. Ageing brings with it a series of problems that need to be addressed, and at the same time, it has also given rise to a sizable silver economy. The silver economy is a new economic form that has emerged along with the new social form of an aging society, and includes related industries that target the elderly group. With the acceleration of the aging process of the world's population, the silver economy has begun to flourish around the world around the needs of the elderly in the process of aging, such as clothing, food, housing, transportation, medicine and other age groups.

At present, the scale of the mainland's silver economy is about 7 trillion yuan, accounting for about 6% of GDP, and it is expected to reach 10% by 2035. On the whole, the market size of the silver economy in mainland China continues to expand, the demand continues to grow, and at the same time, it also shows a development trend of gradual improvement of the industrial system and the increasing speed of innovation in key technologies and products. However, at this stage, there are still many shortcomings and deficiencies in the development of the silver economy in the mainland, which are mainly manifested in the fact that the situation of the silver industry driving the economy and employment has not yet been formed, and the docking between products and services and the integration of business formats are insufficient; the norms and standards of the silver industry are lacking, and the products and services provided are relatively simple; the scientific and technological dividends of the development of the silver economy have not yet been highlighted, and the situation of traditional products and services is still to be broken; the silver economy has a strong welfare color, and has not yet formed an effective commercial profit model.

2. The characteristics and significance of the development of the silver economy

At this stage, the silver economy presents five major characteristics. First, the emergence and development of the silver economy is closely linked to the aging of the population. Second, the development of the silver economy is constrained by the process of social and economic development and modernization. Third, the silver economy involves all aspects and multiple fields of social economy, in addition to medical care and health, it is also closely related to tourism, communications, education and other fields. Fourth, the silver economy has a dynamic development. The contemporary elderly group has a higher level of culture and health, and their willingness and ability to consume are constantly increasing. Fifth, the needs of the silver economy are life-cycled. With the growth of age, the focus of the elderly has gradually shifted from recreation, sports and entertainment to life services, health conditions, nursing services and elderly care environment. Based on these five characteristics, we should pay attention to the development of the silver economy from the perspective of the whole life cycle according to the diversified needs of the silver population and the core demands of the elderly of different ages, and deeply grasp the trend of continuous transformation and subdivision of the industry, business format and business model of the silver economy.

It is of great significance to promote the high-quality development of the silver economy. On the one hand, the development of the silver economy is a practical need to realize the yearning for a better life for the elderly. The mainland has a large elderly population base and a rapid aging rate, and the demand for old-age care is growing rapidly. With the continuous improvement of the level of economic and social development, in addition to the traditional needs of the elderly such as clothing, food, housing, transportation and use, there are also new needs such as art, sports, leisure and entertainment, and the desire and demand of the elderly to improve the quality of life are constantly increasing. The development of the silver economy conforms to this development trend and is conducive to meeting the people's needs for multi-level diversified products and services. On the other hand, the development of the silver economy will inject new momentum into high-quality economic and social development. In the next 10 years, more than 20 million people will enter the old age stage every year, and this group of people will have a higher level of education, better self-rated health, and be able to use the Internet proficiently, and have a high demand for external health care resources, which will become a huge source of potential for the development of the mainland's silver economy. In addition, the silver economy involves a wide range, a long industrial chain, and diversified business formats, giving birth to new opportunities for development. Starting from the key small things to actively respond to the concerns of the elderly and improve the capacity and efficiency of the supply system of the silver economy will become a new fulcrum to promote high-quality economic development.

3. The path to promote the high-quality development of the silver economy

(1) Encourage the participation of multiple subjects and develop embedded elderly care services

On the basis of the various guarantees provided by the national policy, in the face of the huge and diversified demand for the elderly, it is also necessary to enrich all kinds of resources in the market, encourage and attract multiple market entities to participate in it, provide a wider range and more levels of pension services, and explore the economic potential at the same time. Embedded pension service refers to the social pension resources, the products and services of the elderly, gathered around and around the elderly, the service of professional pension institutions and the grassroots work of the community combined, while relying on various preferential policies of the state, the use of various resources, for the operation of the pension institutions to provide all-round support for the operation of the economic model. This model can not only improve the well-being of the elderly but also ensure the economic benefits of service institutions in the process of providing more accurate services, and in the process of realizing the process from people looking for services to services looking for people.

Since 2018, Chengdu has been exploring the implementation of embedded elderly care services, introducing the services of social professional elderly care institutions into the community, providing meal assistance, day care, medical care and other services, and flexibly embedding the services that the elderly can only enjoy in professional institutions into the community and home environment, creating a nursing home at the doorstep. At the same time, the community provides rent reduction and exemption for elderly care institutions, connects with government subsidies, and assists in locating service objects, which greatly reduces the operational pressure of service institutions. Pension institutions are no longer only providing services to the elderly, but open to the society, broadening the scope of business, and increasing the profitability of pension institutions in disguise, which can not only better provide more accurate services for the elderly, but also make the operation of institutions healthier and more benign.

(2) Realize the precise connection between supply and demand, and expand the domestic demand for the development of the silver economy

At present, there is a mismatch between supply and demand in the mainland elderly products market, and the supply of products and services for the elderly is not rich in categories, and the quality is generally not high, and the contradiction between the diversification, differentiation and personalized needs of the elderly group is becoming increasingly prominent. Therefore, to develop the silver economy, we must "think about what the elderly think" and develop more humane, high-quality and practical products for the elderly. In recent years, some cities have introduced shared wheelchairs, which use more durable materials and set up convenient and quick use procedures, so that the elderly can travel freely at a lower price, which has been widely praised.

It should be noted that in addition to meeting the basic needs of food, clothing, housing and transportation, the demand for spiritual life of the elderly group is also getting higher and higher, and the consumption potential driven by this is very huge. According to data from a platform, in the first three quarters of 2023, the consumption growth rate of silver-haired people in the fields of nutrition and health care, fresh food, life services, and tourism is higher than that of online shoppers of all ages. The development of the silver economy also needs to adapt to these new changes in the elderly group, promote the supply-side structural reform, achieve the precise connection between supply and demand, expand the supply of elderly products, improve the quality, and give the elderly a better consumption experience, so as to further expand demand and promote the high-quality development of the silver economy. Taking the university for the elderly as an example, in recent years, in order to meet the diverse needs of the elderly, the curriculum of the university for the elderly has become increasingly rich, in addition to the traditional literature and art courses for the elderly, it has also launched a lot of practical life courses, such as mobile phone short videos, intergenerational education, active health, etc., and the teaching content and teaching methods have been adapted to the elderly, so as to meet the learning habits of the elderly as much as possible. This greatly improves the enthusiasm and interest of the elderly in learning, and helps them develop a variety of interests and hobbies, and promotes the development of related industries.

(3) Strengthen scientific and technological support and improve the supply capacity of products and services

With the continuous advancement of science and technology, there are more and more advanced technologies that can serve the elderly group. The "Opinions on Developing the Silver Economy and Improving the Well-being of the Elderly" issued by the General Office of the State Council clearly stated that a number of forward-looking and strategic scientific and technological research projects should be planned to promote the integrated application of a new generation of information technology and smart devices such as mobile terminals, wearable devices, and service robots in homes, communities, and institutions. Accelerating the integration of information technology and health care products will bring great improvements to the traditional pension model.

Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has developed many products suitable for elderly care scenarios around medical optics, medical imaging, medical electronics and other technologies, and some of them have been applied in the market. For example, the sleep monitor has been put into use in elderly care institutions in Shanghai, which can not only more accurately record the vital signs of the elderly at night, monitor their sleep conditions, but also upload them to the system in real time to remind caregivers to provide necessary services for the elderly. Smart devices such as service robots, anti-lost technology suits, automatic turning beds, and fall alarms are also trying to be introduced to the market. However, how to transform scientific research results into marketable products is not the strength of scientific research institutions. The government and enterprises should realize the effective docking of scientific research achievements and the market as soon as possible, use science and technology to consolidate the development foundation of the silver economy, improve the relevant industrial chain, improve the supply capacity of products and services, and promote the high-quality development of the silver economy.

Source: Policy Brief, No. 168 of the National Development Institute of the People's Republic of China

WeChat editor: Zhang Jingjing

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