CHINA: Demand for Products for Senior Citizens Exceeds $74 Biliion

BEIJING (Xinhua), August 15, 2005: China's "graying-hair market" has great potential for products specially made for the elderly, said Li Baoku, an expert on research of gerontology. China's demand for goods for senior citizens now stands at 600 billion yuan (74 billion US dollars), but the supply of these goods was only 100 billion yuan-worth (12.3 billion US dollars), according to Li. China became an "elderly society", in 1999 according to the internationally-acknowledged standard, said Li. China now has 140 million people aged above 60 years, accounting for 11 percent of the total population. Li, president of China's Gerontology Development Foundation, said that market potential of the elderly population has been rising in China in correspondence with their rise in income Statistics show that 45 percent of people aged between 60 and 65 years old are still working. 42.8 percent of senior citizens living in urban areas have their own bank saving deposits. Another study conducted by the China Gerontology Research Center shows that pensions for the Chinese elderly will reach 838.3 billion yuan (102.2 billion US dollars) in 2010 and 2,814.5 billion yuan (347.5 billion US dollars) by 2020. Currently, China has developed products especially for elderly only in the fields of medicine and tonics. Generally, services and products for senior citizens are lagging behind, said Li. Source: Xinhua