Singapore hospital chain sees golden gains in China’s surging silver economy

The task of providing elderly care for the growing number of ageing Chinese baby boomers may be a headache for Beijing, but a Singaporean hospital operator sees it as an evergreen opportunity.

With more than 400 million Chinese set to enter their 60s over the coming decade, Singapore-based Perennial Holdings Pte. is betting on sound returns for investors able to meet the demand for premium care and services for this group, who were born in the country’s tumultuous 1960s but fortunate enough to reap the benefits of its stellar economic rise in the past few decades.

“When people have a certain level of income, they are used to a certain level of medical treatment. It cannot be totally catered for by the government,” Perennial’s chairman and chief executive officer Pua Seck Guan said in an interview.

With the world’s second-largest economy slowing and its one-child policy having contributed to a low birth rate for decades, China faces an unprecedented challenge in caring for its swelling ranks of senior citizens. Beijing has estimated that only 3 per cent of retirees will check into nursing homes or other types of senior-care facilities, with the rest likely spending their twilight years at home or depending on local communities to care for them.

The government has called on the private sector to expand all things related to elderly care, ranging from the manufacture of diapers and wheelchairs to nursing homes and tailored entertainment options, key elements of the so-called “silver economy” that state media says could reach US$4.2 trillion.

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