On February 20, 2025, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology organized the “2025 Development Conference for the Elderly Products Industry,” with the theme “Opportunities and Challenges for the Development of the Elderly Products Industry under the Silver Economy Background.” The meeting aimed to deeply implement the strategic deployment of actively responding to population aging by the Central Committee and the State Council, scientifically plan the development of elderly products industry, and explore new growth points to promote high-quality economic development domestically.
Leaders from the Consumer Goods Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, experts and scholars in the field of gerontology, leaders from the China Electronics Technology Standardization Institute, and representatives from Zuliz elderly shoes, Beijing Ligui Electronics, and Jiumu Kitchen and Bathroom participated in this conference.
Insight into trends and seize new opportunities in the silver economy.
In the context of accelerated changes in population structure, the aging process in China is advancing at an unprecedented pace. According to the data from the seventh national census, the proportion of people aged 60 and above in China has reached 18.70%, with the proportion of those aged 65 and above reaching 13.50%. It is projected that by 2035, the elderly population aged 60 and above in China will exceed 400 million, accounting for over 30% of the population. The intensified aging of the population highlights the increasing consumption demand of the elderly group, making the silver economy a crucial engine for promoting high-quality economic development domestically.
The Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to the issue of population aging, and a series of favorable policies have been intensively introduced to actively guide social resources towards the elderly products industry. This has laid a solid policy foundation and provided vast development space for the growth of the silver economy.
In such a significant environment, attendees gathered to collectively analyze the trends in the development of the elderly products industry. According to authoritative assessments, the current scale of the silver economy in China has reached around 7 trillion yuan, accounting for approximately 6% of the GDP, covering multiple sectors such as elderly care, elderly products, and elderly entertainment. With the increasing consumption capacity of the elderly and the shift in consumption patterns, the consumption potential of the elderly market continues to be unleashed. It is anticipated that by 2035, the scale of the silver economy is expected to soar to around 30 trillion yuan, with the annual compound growth rate maintaining at a high level, becoming an essential force driving domestic demand and promoting economic growth. The elderly products industry, as a key component of the silver economy, faces unprecedented development opportunities in areas such as product innovation, technological upgrades, market expansion, and service optimization.
In the analysis of the current situation and confronting the challenges of industrial development, Zuliz elderly shoes founder, Zhang Jingkang, delved into the state of the silver economy development from the perspectives of users and channels during the meeting. He pointed out that the current elderly user base is substantial, providing a vast market space for industry development. However, there is a severe lack of products that truly meet the users’ needs. Many elderly products are developed by manufacturers based on imagination rather than real needs, leading to a disconnect between production and sales.
In the aspect of channels, unlike infant and toddler products that have numerous one-stop channels, the elderly consumer market lacks unified channels. There is a scarcity of specialty stores and chain stores for elderly products, with well-known chain stores being rare. Zuliz currently alleviates the channel challenges to some extent through its own offline stores, but the industry as a whole still needs improvement.
Providing recommendations and promoting the standardization process in the industry, Liu Xudan, the Senior Director of the Zuliz Brand Center, shared her views on standardized management of elderly products. She emphasized that there is a fundamental difference between elderly products and ordinary consumer goods. Many so-called “elderly products” on the market are simply modifications of existing products and fail to truly meet the needs of the elderly. Since its establishment, Zuliz has been deeply involved in the field of elderly shoes for ten years, driving the development of elderly shoe categories. In 2022, with the support of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Standards Committee, the national standard for “Elderly Shoes” was initiated. Zuliz actively participated in drafting the standard as the first unit, contributing to the industry’s development. She called for accelerating the standardization management of high-frequency elderly products and improving the national standard system.
The successful convening of the meeting provided a platform for communication and cooperation in the development of the elderly products industry, clarifying the direction of industry development. It helps to unite various forces and collectively promote the healthy and rapid development of the silver economy. As a leading enterprise in the industry, Zuliz elderly shoes has set a benchmark for the development of the elderly products industry through its active exploration in product research and development, channel construction, and standard setting. In the future, it will continue to play a crucial role in the development of the silver economy, helping to meet the diverse consumption needs of the elderly and propel the elderly products industry to new heights.
