An anti-fraud awareness campaign is held for elders at a park in Xinghua, east China's Jiangsu Province, Oct. 22, 2023. The Chongyang Festival, also known as the Double Ninth Festival, is an annual festival to show respect and care for the elderly throughout China. The festival falls on the ninth day of the ninth Chinese lunar month, which is October 23 this year. (Photo: Xinhua)

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has launched specific manufacturing standards for electronic devices used by the elderly, aimed to propel optimization and sales of more than 140 million smart phones and smart televisions sets for them.

The market size of China's products for elderly use has reached 5 trillion yuan ($694.8 billion) as of 2023, as the categories and number of products have reached a large scale, He Yaqiong, an official from the MIIT told a press conference on Monday. 

The ministry has also organized a campaign targeting improvement of 2,577 websites and mobile apps that are frequently used by the elderly, according to He. 

China's State Council, the cabinet, earlier this month issued a sweeping guideline on promoting the development of the elderly care industry, or the "silver economy," to respond to the aging population and foster a new growth driver, as China's "silver economy" is expected to reach 30 trillion yuan in size by 2035. 

China has about 357,000 "silver economy" related companies, according to Chinese enterprise information provider Tianyancha.com, in which 75,000 companies were registered in 2023, a rise of 28.6 percent year-on-year.

And, more companies announced plans to help promote the growth of "silver economy". 

Medical equipment provider Yarward Electronics Co said on January 9 during an investor communication event that the company has developed intelligent communication system targeting elderly care. 

Also, Everjoy Health Group said on January 18 that the company's nursing business will try to expand its services including health management, rehabilitation training, professional nursing and others for the elderly people. 

Global Times