Senior services expo opens in Beijing

The fifth China International Senior Service Expo opened in Beijing on Tuesday.

The three-day expo gathered representatives from more than 200 professional institutes in 10 countries and regions.

China has experienced a rapid increase in its aging population. By 2015, China had 222 million people above 60, about 16 percent of the total population.

“Older people’s demands for senior service have increased sharply, and elderly care has become a major strategic issue to affect the national economy and people’s livelihood,” said Gao Xiaobing, vice minister of civil affairs.

“As the pace of population aging in China is much greater than has been the case in the past and for many countries, the necessary adaptations will have to be undertaken quickly,” said Gregory Ross Shaw, director of international and corporate relations of the International Federation on Aging, adding that the trends demand innovative technology and products in the industry.

China’s top leaders expressed their concerns about aging issues.

President Xi Jinping said in March that coping with an aging population concerns China’s overall development and the interests of hundreds of millions of people.

Hosted by Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, China National Committee on Aging, organized by China Association of Social Welfare and Senior Service, Beijing Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau and Beijing Municipal Committee On Aging, China International Senior Services Expo (CISSE) is the most the most authoritative national expo focusing on senior care, with the theme of “Better care for the elderly, better life for the world”.