CHENGDU, Aug. 7 (NBD) -- China's aged care market will reach 10 trillion yuan (about 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars) with the rapid growth of the elderly, Fei Chunlu, director of the Financial Services Branch of the China Association of Social Welfare and Senior Service, said at the 2017 annual meeting on China's senior care economy and finance, which was held on Saturday.

Launching inclusive finance for the elderly can not only improve the life quality of the aged, but also can give a boost to the economic development, Fei noted. For this reason, the Financial Services Branch of the China Association of Social Welfare and Senior Service will urge financial enterprises to inject 10 billion yuan (about 1.5 billion U.S. dollars) into 1,000 senior care institutions to push their upgrading or restructuring.

The program will be first tested in four provinces and 20 institutions this year, and will be extended to 10 provinces and 100 institutions next year. It will be carried out across China in 2019.

Despite the booming growth, the aged care industry hasn't yet found the right profit mode.

According to Li Wei, director of the aged talents information center of the Chinese association for the elderly, only 20 percent of nursing institutions for the aged are in the black, but only make meager profits. Around 50 percent of them stay flat, while 30 percent are loss-making.

He said in an interview with NBD that senior care institutions pay great attention to the construction of talents teams as well as integrity, software and service improvement. Meanwhile, they should establish partnerships with government institutions, communities, and neighborhood committees.  

Email: lansuying@nbd.com.cn