Rise of knowledge- and tech-intensive society (3)

A caregiver (right) at a senior care center in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, encourages some elderly residents to play indoor games on June 2. [Photo/Xinhua]

In late May, China launched its first presbyopia surgery center at Beijing Tongren Hospital, a major healthcare facility that is renowned for ophthalmology. The center is expected to help more people overcome or cope with elderly vision problems and have better vision.

"China is increasingly becoming an aging society, and the life expectancy of the Chinese has increased. Eyes usually age the first. Many people are used to wearing presbyopic glasses. The surgery center at Tongren will help improve eyesight for many healthy middle-aged and elderly people," said Wei Wenbin, deputy dean of Beijing Tongren Hospital.

On another front, Taikang Insurance Group, a major insurer, has developed a complete medical and healthcare business network. In 2007, the company started to expand its business in the market for elderly care services.

Currently, Taikang has established community elderly care centers in 22 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou of Guangdong province and Chengdu of Sichuan province, and every center is equipped with a rehabilitation hospital that is specialized in geriatric diseases.

Besides, Chinese real estate developers Evergrande Group and China Poly Group Corp Ltd also expanded their businesses in the integration of hospitals and elderly care service communities.

For elderly care-related sectors, the government could support their development with financing like policy-based bonds and government-backed business loans, said Dong Keyong, secretary-general of the China Ageing Finance Forum (CAFF50) and a professor at the School of Social Sciences at Tsinghua University.

"From the perspective of industrial financing, the return cycle of the elderly care sector is relatively long, and the profitability is not high enough. We should increase support in the financing of elderly care institutions," Dong said.