China’s Retirement Industry Trapped in Quagmire.docVIP

China’s Retirement Industry Trapped in Quagmire 　　Recently， the National Development and Reform Commission （NDRC） announced that the first batch of public-private-partnership （PPP） projects got approval， including 38 retirement service projects which cover a total investment of over 20 billion. Most of retirement service projects are senile apartments， nursing homes， aged-care center and other facilities related to the care of the elderly， mainly located in Jiangsu， Shandong and Jiangxi provinces. 　　According to analysis from a policy researcher， the retirement industry is expected to become China’s new economic growth point and way to expand domestic demand， with the government increasing policy support amid economic downturn and population aging concerns. Meanwhile， that will relieve the pressure of a 421 family （that is， a family consists of four seniors， two young people and one child）. 　　Over the past decade， China’s elderly dependency ratio increased rapidly. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics， by the end of 2014， China’s elderly population reached 212 million， becoming the world’s first country whose elderly population exceeded 200-million mark. 　　Du Peng， director of the Institute of Gerontology un-der the Renmin University of China， said that China’s elderly population would be closer to 450 million by 2055， an all-time high in history. 　　“Based on the current data that China has 200 million senior citizens， retirement service market will reach 3 trillion yuan， with high-end senior care sector providing 50 million jobs，” said Wang Hong， Secretary of the Party Committee of Baoshan District， Shanghai City. 　　“China’s retirement industry still in its infancy， especially at the top-level design aspect，” said the abovementioned researcher. “There are a lot of uncertainties in the implementation of policies.” 　　 Lack of Available Land 　　The Chinese government has incorporated the issue of aging into the overall national economic