More foreign investors are entering into Shanghai’s senior care scene, as the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau said that a Sweden and Singapore-backed firm providing senior home services recently received its business license, reports the Shanghai Daily.
Regulations have been relaxed, with “favorable policies” that include breaks on tax and public utilities being offered to “encourage overseas enterprises and social organizations to set up in China,” the article says.
Now that it has its license, Econ-SCA Health Management Co Ltd has launched trial projects in Zhabei District.
Back in July 2011, U.S.-based Emeritus Senior Living received its business license for a joint venture with Columbia Pacific Advisors to open a senior care facility in China. Experts say this home will likely target people with high incomes, says Shanghai Daily.
“There are such seniors in Shanghai with high incomes and high requirements for life quality,” said Sun Pengbiao, director of the Shanghai Research Center on Aging, in the article. “Foreign-invested seniors’ homes can meet these needs.”
Within the next five years, the elderly cohort (age 60 and older) in Shanghai is projected to reach 30% of the overall population, from 3.3 million at the end of last year to 4.3 million, the article reports.
The original Shanghai Daily article can be read here.
Written by Alyssa Gerace
