"Minsheng Weekly" reporter Guo Peng.
"The silver economy involves a wide range, a long industrial chain, and a diversified business format, which is pregnant with new opportunities, and will surely give birth to new fields and new tracks, and become a new support for exploring the path of coping with population aging with Chinese characteristics in the process of Chinese-style modernization. ”Following the emphasis on the development of the silver economy at the Economic Work Conference and the Executive Meeting, the General Office issued the Opinions on Developing the Silver Economy and Improving the Well-being of the Elderly (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions") on January 15. This is the No. 1 document of the General Office of the People's Republic of China in 2024, and it is also the country's first special document to support the development of the silver economy.
The opinion points out that the silver economy is the sum of a series of economic activities such as providing products or services to the elderly and preparing for the aging stage, involving a wide range, a long industrial chain, diversified business formats and huge potential.
Some analysts believe that the silver economy has become one of the important measures to promote high-quality development in China.
Solve problems and strengthen the industry
Why develop a silver economy? In the view of Zhang Shixin, deputy secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission, the development of the silver economy is a practical need to realize the people's yearning for a better life, a powerful measure to promote high-quality development, and an important support for Chinese-style modernization. "There are nearly 300 million elderly people in China, and the development of the silver economy is conducive to conforming to the trend of changing the demand structure of the elderly from survival to development. "The silver economy involves a wide range, a long industrial chain, and a diversified business format, which is pregnant with new opportunities, and will surely give birth to new fields and new tracks, and become a new support for exploring the path of coping with population aging with Chinese characteristics in the process of Chinese-style modernization. Zhang Shixin said. The reporter of "Minsheng Weekly" combed and found that compared with the previous pension economy and pension industry, the silver economy in this opinion has been given a new connotation, that is, the development of the silver economy includes two aspects: "the aging economy in the old age stage" and "the preparation economy in the old age stage". Regarding the considerations and considerations behind this new formulation, Liu Ming, director of the Social Development Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, introduced that from the perspective of national planning guidance, the development of the silver economy fully echoes and implements the national strategy of actively responding to the aging of the population. The inclusion of "ready for the elderly" related industries into the scope of the silver economy is an overall consideration under the framework of the national strategy to actively respond to the aging of the population. From the perspective of the life cycle of an individual, the old age stage and the pre-old stage are not separated, and should be planned as an organic whole. From the perspective of intergenerational transmission of society, the development of the silver economy is inseparable from the joint participation of people of all ages. "In the stage of pre-old age to carry out material and wealth reserves, health management, in the old age stage can better realize the old people have support, the old have something to do, and the old people have fun. Regarding the content of the opinions, some analysts believe that in dealing with the relationship between people's livelihood and economy, undertakings and industries, the opinions have always focused on the needs of the people, and "solving problems and strengthening industries" are the two key points. The analysis also pointed out that, on the one hand, the development of people's livelihood should be given priority, focusing on the "key little things" around the elderly such as eating, shopping, medical treatment, elderly care, and culture, covering life scenarios such as home, community, institution, and society, which not only ensures basic people's livelihood and just needs services, but also facilitates the elderly to enjoy a better life; On the other hand, combined with the development of the times and the changes in the needs of the elderly, we will focus on cultivating a number of potential industries with clear market prospects, guide all kinds of business entities to actively participate in a market-oriented manner, enrich and expand the supply of high-quality products and services, and better meet the multi-level and diversified needs of the people.
Pain points and blockages
The reporter of Minsheng Weekly learned that the opinions proposed that it is necessary to accelerate the scale, standardization, clustering and brand development of the silver economy, and cultivate high-precision products and high-quality service models, which are embodied in more than 20 measures. Develop people's livelihood undertakings and solve emergencies. Driven by demand, we will strive to improve people's livelihood and well-being from the "key small things". Focusing on the high-frequency services urgently needed by the elderly in seven aspects: meal assistance services for the elderly, home-based assistance services, community convenience services, health services for the elderly, elderly care services, cultural and sports services for the elderly, and rural elderly care services, practical solutions are proposed. Expand product supply and improve quality level. Focus on cultivating high-quality business entities, promoting the demonstration of industrial clusters, improving the efficiency of industry organizations, promoting brand development, carrying out high-standard pilot actions, and broadening consumption channels, so as to create demand through high-quality and efficient supply and enhance the overall scale of the silver economy. Focus on diversified needs and cultivate potential industries. Focusing on the manufacturing of elderly products, smart health and elderly care, advanced assistive devices, anti-aging industry, pension finance, tourism services, and age-appropriate transformation of seven industries with good prospects and great potential, practical and effective policies and measures have been formulated. In the face of the broad market, some industry insiders believe that although the silver economy covers a wide area, the related industries at this stage are mainly concentrated in catering, nursing, health care and other basic pension services. The diversified, differentiated and personalized needs of the elderly are becoming more and more vigorous and urgent, and have not yet been effectively met, which contains huge development opportunities. The industry said that from the perspective of international experience, in different stages of aging and different periods of economic development, the connotation of the silver economy is constantly evolving, and policy guidance must be accurately carried out according to its stage characteristics. In his view, at present, there are three prominent problems in the development of China's silver industry. First, the system design needs to be refined. For example, the current medical insurance reimbursement system was established under the young population structure, and the current reimbursement fee structure and catalogue have not been well matched with the needs of the aging society. For example, the long-term care insurance system is only being piloted in 49 regions. The reform of the medical insurance system and the long-term care insurance system is of great significance to stimulate the needs of the society and improve the payment ability of the elderly. Second, the intensity of industrial policy needs to be strengthened. For example, how to give full play to the leverage role of financial funds, drive the investment of social capital, so that more industrial capital can be profitable and sustainable in the silver economy? To this end, it is necessary to formulate precise support policies for different industry classifications. Third, the human resources policy needs to be optimized. On the one hand, the development of machine substitution, Internet technology can reduce the demand for human capital, but on the other hand, there are many emotional communication jobs that are irreplaceable by machines, so the shortage of human resources, especially the shortage of care and nursing staff is a common problem for all countries, and greater policy support is needed, and there must be more market practices to jointly promote the solution.
Producer: Minsheng Weekly (ID: msweekly) The original article was originally published in the 3rd issue of "Minsheng Weekly" magazine in 2024 The original title: "Silver Hair Economy Benefits the Current and Long-term Benefits" and "Minsheng Weekly" All ** Reporter Guo Peng Responsible Editor: Liu Yeye.
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