China's high-end senior living market is expected to prosper, said the top management of Sino-Ocean Land Holdings Ltd, a Hong Kong-listed real estate developer.
"Sino-Ocean Land will launch its fourth senior living project in Beijing before the end of this year," Li Jianbo, the company's vice president, said on Thursday.
In August 2013, Sino-Ocean Land, partnering with the US's largest assisted living provider, Emeritus Corp, opened its first high-end senior living community on the outskirts of Beijing. Another two projects have been launched in Beijing since then.
"Though our company is known as a real estate developer, our senior living projects provide much more than living space for the senior. Providing professional senior-care service is our core business," Li said.
The company's senior living communities feature elaborate interior design that aims to protect residents from potential injuries and professional services customized in accordance with residents' varied health conditions.
The company partners with Meridian Senior Living LLC, a US senior living provider- to bring in the "Validation" therapy created by Naomi Feil, to help seniors who suffer from Alzheimer's disease or other dementia-related illnesses.
In recent years, a number of companies dipped into China's senior living sector as the aging population and increasing number of disabled seniors led to growing demands for senior care and nursing services.
The United Nations predicts that almost one-third of China's population, or 438 million people, will be over 60 years old by 2050.
By the end of 2013, China only had some five million beds in senior care facilities, specifically, 25 beds per 1,000 seniors, far from meeting the international standard of 40 to 50 beds per 1,000 seniors.
According to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the potential size of the country's senior living market surpasses 4 trillion yuan ($640 billion) and is expected to hit 13 trillion yuan in 2030.
The lack of wide acceptance of high-end senior care community and an existing model for it in China make it a challenging task for the company to move forward rapidly, Li said.
"China's high-end senior living market is still in its nascence. But I am confident that people will recognize the value of an upscale senior living community in the near future," Li said.
