Firms wise up to aging challenge

He added that elderly consumers in China are "quite reluctant to spend on themselves, preferring to spend their hard-earned savings on their children and their grandchildren".

But Zhu said things are changing, as elderly people pay more attention to their quality of life, and their children have the ability to spend more money on their parents and grandparents.

In addition to adult-care diapers, demand is also rising for items such as false teeth, hearing aids, electronic blood pressure monitors, and wheelchairs.

Medical devices

Family of Health is China's largest chain retailer specialized in selling health-related items for elderly people, including wheelchairs, household treatment appliances, small blood-sugar testing machines and special food products.

Established in 2004, the company now has more than 300 direct and franchised stores around China, and its average sales are increasing at more than 20 percent annually.

Bai Yi, general manager of the chain retailer, said while it had previously focused on selling foreign brands, it is now turning its attention toward domestic products, as they are more tailored to local people and are generally more affordable.

Medtronic Inc, the developer and the world's largest producer of pacemakers, opened a new R&D facility in August in Shanghai, says an important part of its work here is to deal with China's aging problem.

"We have noticed the rapidly growing number of seniors in China who need our products. They are living longer, and we want them, meanwhile, to live well," said Simon Li, Medtronic vice-president and the company's president in China,

The US-based company now provides devices and solutions for more than 30 diseases and conditions primarily affecting the elderly, including cardiovascular illnesses, Parkinsons, urinary incontinence, diabetes and osteoarthropathy.

Meditronic's facility, the company's only one outside the United States and Europe, plans to increase its payroll from the current 100 to more than 1,000 over the next five years, including hundreds of engineers, to help meet the growing demand for its products.

"They will jointly work with local counterparts, academic institutes and universities to develop locally tailored products and technologies," said Li.

In August 2011, Medtronic promoted a pacemaker with newly developed materials on the Chinese market, which can be used safely when patients are undergoing magnetic resonance imaging examinations.

The new pacemaker will not influence imaging results and cannot be influenced by other examination machines, an important factor for elderly people, who tend to require more physical examinations of this kind.

The device for Parkinsons patients can be installed in the patient's brain and they can control it easily with an extracorporeal controller.

A device for diabetics has a small insulin pump that can be linked with body via a thin pipe, thus insulin can steadily enter the patient's body and they do not require regular injections.

Meanwhile, with the increasing incidence of these chronic diseases, also called lifestyle illnesses, among middle-aged people, such equipment is becoming increasingly popular, said Li.

The sector is promising and more products and services can be explored, according to Zeng Qi, secretary-general of China Elderly People's Industry Association.

"Demand for entertainment, tourism, education and financial services specifically for the elderly is still at a burgeoning stage in China, in which foreigner investors can play an active role introducing new service models from developed markets," Zeng said.

liujie@chinadaily.com.cn