As an aging society is approaching and the importance of elderly care policies has significantly increased, the elderly care industry is also facing huge development opportunities.
According to data from the Bureau of Statistics, as of the end of 2021, there were 267 million people in my country aged 60 and over, but the total number of beds in elderly care institutions was only 8.159 million. Based on this calculation, less than 2% of the elderly population can obtain supporting elderly care institution services. According to statistics from the National Committee on Aging, the consumption potential of China's elderly population will increase from 4 trillion yuan to about 106 trillion yuan from 2014 to 2050, and the proportion of GDP will increase from 8% to 33%. Against this background, more and more companies are diversifying into industries related to elderly care. Insurance companies, real estate developers, Internet giants, etc. have all actively invested, and a number of representative companies have emerged. From this perspective, the elderly care industry is indeed a blue ocean market full of imagination and attraction. However, in China, due to its late start and the fact that it is still in the early stages of commercialization, and the elderly care industry itself has certain thresholds, the absolute leader in the industry has yet to be established. What is certain is that the paths and models chosen by companies that have already taken the lead, such as insurance giants Ping An and Taikang; and real estate leaders Vanke and Poly, are representative and forward-looking; and along their development models, we can also see the prototype and trends of the future development of China's elderly care industry.
The elderly care industry is booming
The aging society is coming, and policies related to elderly care are also being released in full swing.
In recent years, the pace of pension policy promotion has further accelerated. Entering 2022, more blockbuster policies have also been implemented. In 2021, the National Conference on Aging called for the construction of a three-in-one elderly health service model of "prevention, treatment, and care." The "Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Strengthening Aging Work in the New Era" made clear arrangements for improving the health support system for the elderly. Subsequently, policies to improve the health support system for the elderly were also introduced.
The National Health Commission and other departments issued the "Notice on Comprehensively Strengthening Health Services for the Elderly", proposing specific measures in more than ten aspects, including strengthening health education for the elderly. According to Wang Haidong, director of the Department of Aging and Health of the National Health Commission, policy documents on strengthening the care of disabled elderly people will also be issued in the future. Such as promoting the construction of a three-in-one elderly health service model of "prevention, treatment and care"; accelerating the construction of a 15-minute elderly care service circle; promoting the chain and group development of elderly care enterprises; promoting financial support to accelerate the development of the elderly care industry, etc.
Not only that, third-party statistical agencies also show that Chinese people’s acceptance of elderly care institutions is also increasing. Watermark China survey data shows that 56.9% of Shanghai’s elderly people expressed their willingness to live in a nursing home in the future. As of 2020, my country has 31.1 elderly care beds per 1,000 elderly people, which is still far behind the goal of "35-40 elderly care beds per 1,000 elderly people in 2020" proposed by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. This also shows that there is still a certain gap between demand and supply. With the support of development measures for the elderly care industry and the pull of potential consumers, the direction that companies currently entering this track should focus on and work towards is clear. CRIC data statistics show that based on the 2013-2020 pension-related macro and industrial data combined with the system dynamics model, it is predicted that the scale of the elderly care industry in 2022 will be 9 trillion yuan, and the scale of the elderly care industry is expected to exceed 12 trillion yuan in 2025. In the next five years, the elderly care industry will also complete the industry cultivation period ahead of schedule and officially enter the industry explosion period.
Heroes from all walks of life gather together
The sustainability and high growth of the elderly care industry have allowed more and more companies to see its potential and momentum.
With policy support and industry explosion, more and more companies are pouring into this track. Insurance companies, real estate companies and even Internet giants are all interested in getting a share of the pie. Looking at the companies that are deploying the elderly care industry, they all have deep roots in elderly care-related industries such as finance, real estate, or health care, and they also have certain synergies and compatibility with their main businesses, making them quite competitive in the elderly care industry, thus prompting them to dive into this track. Among them, insurance companies have made more in-depth explorations.Preliminary statistics show that there are currently more than 10 insurance institutions investing in senior care community projects in provinces and cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Hainan. Among insurance companies, Ping An and Taikang are the undisputed pioneers.
Taking Ping An as an example, its layout strategy is very clear. According to the data, Ping An will focus on the two major directions of "comprehensive finance" and "medical care + elderly care", and will continue to strengthen the two-wheel drive through technological capabilities. As early as 2012, Ping An launched the first health care and elderly care industry project. In recent years, China Ping An has also been continuously upgrading its strategy in the elderly care industry. Judging from the product lines of Ping An's senior care layout, it is a multi-level and multi-dimensional service system from health +, medical +, home to high-end health care. This service system is designed to follow the customer's life process, advance with the life process, and collaborate with each other.
Taikang’s layout is also representative to a certain extent. Taikang Life launched a business model connecting insurance products to senior care communities in 2012, investing insurance funds in long-term medical care and health care. Currently, it has investment plans in many cities across the country. In parallel with insurance companies, real estate developers also have a lot of thoughts on the elderly care industry. For example, Vanke launched its own elderly apartment in Beijing in 2010, equipped with nursing institutions, health clubs and other service facilities suitable for the elderly. Since then, Vanke has continued to explore and has now begun to implement the renovation of activity centers in the community to add elderly care institutions to provide elderly care services to community customers.
Witness that product is king
Among the players in the senior care industry, Ping An has accelerated its deployment in the high-end healthcare field in recent years.
In 2021, Ping An officially launched the high-end health care brand Ping An Zhenyi Nian, entering the high-end health care track.
Subsequently, in March 2022, Ping An Zhenyinian's first high-quality health care community project "Yinian City Shekou" was launched in Shekou, Shenzhen. It is expected to be fully rolled out in the first-tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hangzhou in the next two years. This is a senior care project that can be called a “safe business card”.
public information shows that Yinian City Shekou integrates seven panoramic activity spaces including nutritional food, health care, circle links, sports and fitness, social reception, leisure and entertainment, and cultural learning. After the project is completed, it will become the flagship of urban core health care integrating medical treatment, rehabilitation, care and life. Based on the service content of Qiwei Health, corresponding special service spaces such as fitness and wellness, family companionship, cultural learning, entertainment activities, business meetings, social circles, and spiritual beliefs are configured internally.
As we all know, the elderly care industry itself is not only about the quality of hardware facilities, which only tests the company's construction capabilities; more importantly, it is the level of service, which is a reflection of soft power and one of the decisive factors that influence customer choice.
Ping An's design concept is to follow a people-centered attitude and allow the residence to meet the different needs of the elderly. In Yi Nian City·Shekou, variable spaces can be created through prefabricated construction methods and flexible design according to the changes in the physical condition of the elderly residents, realizing the industry's first "rapid independent care conversion design" to meet the elderly's pursuit of high-quality life and create a "residence that will never move away."
In this project, Ping An's product strength has been further demonstrated not only in the design concept, but also in the creation of apartment space and the layout of the scene.
For example, in terms of apartment layout adaptation, Ping An has built the apartment layout of this project into an elderly-friendly self-care residence that can sustainably change as the residents grow. The elderly-friendly apartment layout can change the spatial pattern according to the changing physical characteristics of the residents. For the elderly who take care of themselves, the elderly who are lightly assisted, and the elderly who are cared for by healthy relatives and who are moderately assisted, the self-care apartments covered by Ping An are mainly residential units, combined with small logistics areas. The rooms are designed to be barrier-free, and balconies are provided as much as possible to meet the needs of the elderly for outdoor activities. An elderly-friendly smart home is introduced into the room to ensure privacy while protecting the life safety of residents. In the apartment design,
also fully considers the scenarios such as service, rest, receiving guests, solitude, first aid and nursing care.Taking the service scenario as an example, Ping An has reserved space for housekeeping services and has an online service reservation system to facilitate door-to-door provision of various services. In the solitude scene,
uses the design of two bedrooms to form a spatial pattern that does not interfere with each other, and can adapt to various needs such as room separation for couples, visits by children, personal interests, and personal nannies.
Since it is targeted at the elderly, Ping An has also paid great attention to the design details and done a lot of work on the product to meet the needs of the elderly. For example, Ping An has made a lot of humanized designs based on the needs of the elderly, striving to create a safer, more convenient and comfortable living environment. For example, the room is equipped with a green balcony, and the room uses aging-friendly smart homes such as sensors and smart lighting to care for the living needs of the elderly.
In addition, Ping An also adopts a Japanese-style nursing home agency bathroom model. Fully consider the space needs of the elderly for toileting, washing, showering, nursing, and passing. In terms of appearance and construction of living space, Ping An has also fully taken into account the customer's life circle and taste. Through high-quality appearance and artistic living space, such as the elegant and square building appearance and entrance, the residents here will feel more comfortable.
Ping An’s layout in the elderly care industry has always been based on the original intention of “creating value through professionalism”. In the 2022 semi-annual report, Ping An stated that it will be committed to becoming the most professional financial advisor, the most professional family doctor, and the most professional retirement housekeeper around customers. There is no end to professional practice. Expert, specialize, concentrate, focus. Industry, entrepreneurship, career, foundation. And value cultivation requires diligent pursuit.
In pursuit of this, Ping An’s future layout in the elderly care industry will lead to the birth of more professional, diverse and distinctive products or projects.
A giant ship in the elderly care industry has slowly set sail.
editor/Fang Gang
