Silver economy becomes new growth driver in China: report

Driven by a 320-million-strong aging population, China's silver economy is emerging as a new blue-ocean market amid the broader trend of national consumption upgrading, which will become a key focus over the next five years with an aim to improve elderly care services and deliver a more diverse and higher-quality life for the country's senior citizens, according to a report.

China's silver economy is valued at seven trillion yuan (around one trillion U.S. dollars), or about six percent of GDP, and is projected to reach 30 trillion yuan (around 4.4 trillion U.S. dollars) -- roughly 10 percent of GDP -- by 2035, according to the Blue Book of Silver Economy: Annual Report on the Development of Silver Economy in China (2024).

This year's government work report says that China will strengthen social security and services, raising the monthly minimum basic pension for urban and rural residents by another 20 yuan (around 2.9 U.S. dollars).

The report emphasizes fully implementing the national strategy to address population aging, expanding public-interest elderly care services, strengthening elderly care in rural areas, and providing service consumption subsidies for moderately to severely disabled seniors.

On the silver economy, the report proposes actively developing the elderly human resources, formulating measures to promote its high-quality development, and improving support policies for senior products, pension finance, and senior tourism.

Meanwhile, it calls for expanding rehabilitation and nursing care capacity, promoting the long-term care insurance system, and providing care and assistance for vulnerable groups such as seniors living alone and those with disabilities or cognitive impairments.

The draft outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan also sets a target to raise the average life expectancy to 80 years. It replaces the previous five-year plan's indicator of basic pension insurance coverage with the proportion of nursing beds in elderly care institutions, which is expected to rise from 68 percent to 73 percent. This shift is designed to guide institutions towards providing quality nursing services and better meeting the care needs of disabled and cognitively impaired seniors.

Silver economy becomes new growth driver in China: report

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's erroneous remarks on China's Taiwan are tantamount to a declaration of war against China, said Akinobu Ito, president of the Japan-China Workers Exchange Association.

Takaichi claimed during a Diet meeting on Nov 7, 2025 that the Chinese mainland's "use of force on Taiwan" could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, a remark that immediately drew strong criticism at home and abroad.

In an interview with China Media Group (CMG), Ito stated that Takaichi's remarks amount to a rupture in diplomatic relations with China and even imply a declaration of war.

"Takaichi's remarks completely deny the 1972 Japan-China Joint Communiqué, which normalized diplomatic relations between the two countries. Put bluntly, it is a notice of severing diplomatic ties. To describe this as Japan's 'survival-threatening situation' is, in my opinion, a warning of an impending war," he said.

Ito also emphasized the importance of historical education and reflection in light of the current international landscape.

"I believe the most important issue is education, starting with textbooks. For 30 to 40 years, the Japanese government has been engaged in a continuous denial and distortion of historical facts. We need to go back once again to what it meant for Japan to be defeated in the war and to accept the Potsdam Declaration, and reflect on the 80 years since the end of the World War II," said Ito.

Takashi's erroneous remarks closer to war declaration: Japanese analyst