Silver hair industry about to boom

The domestic market for providing essential services and products for the aging population is estimated to be worth 4 trillion yuan ($651 billion) in 2014, or 8 percent of GDP, but it will climb to 33 percent of GDP in 2050, according to the China Report on the Development of the Silver Hair Industry released on Tuesday.

China will become the largest market for businesses serving senior citizens by 2050, when its aging population will account for about one-fourth of the global total and its consumption is expected to reach 106 trillion yuan.

There should be more measures to encourage the growing retirement population to spend and make sufficient preparations for later life, said Wu Yushao, deputy director of the China National Committee on Aging.