Understanding China’s Longevity Market: Industry Segments, Trends and Opportunities

China’s longevity market is emerging as a powerful new growth frontier as the country enters a rapidly aging demographic era. Driven by national-level policy support since 2024, China is shifting from reactive elderly care to proactive, lifespan-oriented innovation across healthcare, biotech, and smart eldercare. This article explores the forces shaping this transformation and the investment opportunities now unfolding for domestic and global players.

China is entering a new demographic era that will shape not only its own economic trajectory but also global investment trends in health and innovation. With nearly 300 million people aged 60 and above (more than one-fifth of its population), the country is aging at a pace unprecedented in human history. Yet instead of treating this as a looming crisis, China is reframing aging as an opportunity to build a new pillar of growth: the longevity economy.

Since 2024, the development of the longevity industry has been elevated to the level of national strategy, signaling a shift from reactive healthcare to proactive, lifespan-oriented innovation. Across the country, policies now support a broad spectrum of longevity-related sectors, from preventive medicine and nutritional science to biotechnology, smart eldercare, and regenerative therapies.

In this article, we examine the drivers behind China’s rapidly expanding longevity market, explore the key sectors and investment opportunities emerging from this transformation, and assess how both domestic and international players are positioning themselves in the picture.

China’s longevity market overview

Scope and definition

China’s longevity market represents a rapidly evolving segment within the broader “silver economy,” with a distinct focus on extending healthy lifespan rather than merely serving an aging population.

It spans biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, regenerative medicine, medical devices, AI-enabled diagnostics, digital health platforms, anti-aging cosmetics, nutraceuticals, and advanced elder-care technologies. Collectively, these industries target the biological, clinical, and lifestyle dimensions of aging, seeking not just to treat diseases, but to slow, prevent, or reverse the mechanisms of aging itself.

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In China, longevity is deeply embedded in long-standing preventive health traditions and wellness philosophies derived from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). This cultural foundation provides a natural complement to modern biomedical approaches. The result is a hybrid model: one that merges clinical science and biotechnology with holistic practices such as nutrition, herbal therapy, and mind-body balance, aligning well with growing consumer demand for integrated preventive health solutions.

According to the China Longevity Medicine and Anti-Aging Industry White Paper (2025), the focus of longevity medicine is shifting from treating individual diseases to systematically intervening in the biological aging process itself. By leveraging multi-omics data, biological age clocks, and regenerative medicine, longevity medicine aims to detect, prevent, and reverse physiological decline before chronic conditions manifest. This approach prioritizes early intervention for adults as young as 30, to extend “healthspan,” or the number of years lived in good health.

Market size and projections

The market architecture surrounding longevity is becoming increasingly sophisticated. The silver economy, encompassing products and services for the elderly, reached an estimated RMB 7 trillion (US$966 billion) by end-2024, while longevity-specific submarkets are rapidly scaling from smaller bases.

China’s digital health market, with revenue projected to reach US$30.46 billion and with an annual growth rate (CAGR 2025-2030) of 6.14 percent, serves as the infrastructure layer for preventive care and age-management services. Meanwhile, anti-aging consumer products (US$4.1 billion in 2024), telehealth platforms (US$7.14 billion in 2024), and elder-care robotics (US$219.7 million in 2024) illustrate the commercial breadth of this emerging ecosystem.

Industry segmentation and key trends with China’s longevity market

Healthcare and preventive medicine

China’s longevity economy begins with the foundation of its healthcare system, which is undergoing a profound transformation to meet the needs of an aging society. The expansion of geriatric care is one of the clearest signs of this shift. By 2023, over 6,877 public hospitals across the country had established dedicated geriatric departments, an increase that reflects China’s plan to have 80 percent of all hospitals equipped with such units by 2027.

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In parallel, there were 7,881 integrated medical-and-eldercare institutions nationwide by the end of 2023, marking a 12.8 percent year-on-year rise. Major urban centers such as Shanghai and Beijing are leading this transformation, opening specialized geriatric wards, memory clinics, and full-fledged elder-care hospitals. At Fudan University’s Zhongshan Hospital, for instance, a new “longevity and anti-aging” clinic offers preventive health assessments, hormone therapies, and age-specific wellness programs, an example of how large public institutions are integrating longevity care into mainstream medicine.

The focus on chronic disease management and digital health has also become central to China’s approach. With hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and dementia on the rise, the demand for long-term, continuous care has never been higher. The government’s Smart Elder Care Plan (2021–2025), for example, encourages hospitals and private providers to adopt telemedicine, IoT-based monitoring systems, rehabilitation robotics, and wearable health devices.

At the same time, China’s longevity ecosystem reflects the country’s enduring cultural affinity for TCM. The idea of preventive wellness and TCM integration is gaining strong traction, especially among affluent, urban consumers who see “healthspan” as an investment rather than a cost.

This “East-meets-West” model has given rise to a distinctly Chinese form of preventive medicine, one that merges tradition with biotechnology. Established TCM brands like Tong Ren Tang and Infinitus have entered the anti-aging market with specialized nutraceuticals and herbal formulations, while integrative hospitals and private wellness clinics blend TCM and Western diagnostics into holistic care programs.

Biotechnology and anti-aging research

China’s biotechnology sector is rapidly emerging as a global hub for longevity science, with state policy explicitly encouraging innovation in stem-cell therapy, gene editing, senolytics, and tissue engineering. Free trade zones (FTZs) such as Shanghai’s Pudong have become launchpads for international biotech firms and hospitals developing and testing advanced cell and gene therapies. A flagship example is the Sirio Institute for Anti-Aging (SIA), inaugurated in early 2025, which focuses on translating fundamental aging research into clinical applications for cellular and tissue regeneration.

China’s longevity biotech ecosystem is also defined by its expanding network of domestic innovators and state-backed research entities. Companies like AccurEdit Therapeutics in Suzhou are pioneering first-in-China clinical trials of in vivo gene-editing therapies (for instance, ART001 for transthyretin amyloidosis), while firms such as Yoltech Therapeutics, Chi-Med (Innovent Biologics), and Hangzhou Tigermed are advancing precision medicine, immunotherapy, and contract research capabilities.

Multinationals, including Ferring Shanghai and Health-Pei Pharmaceuticals, are likewise entering the anti-aging space, drawn by favorable regulatory pathways and access to local talent. Meanwhile, cross-border collaboration remains essential to China’s biotech ascent. Chinese researchers are engaging in joint studies with institutions like Japan’s Renascience and Northwestern University (US) to co-develop anti-aging interventions and benchmark global standards.

Smart eldercare and robotics

As China’s population ages, technology is becoming a central pillar of the country’s eldercare strategy. The government is betting heavily on AI, IoT, and robotics to bridge the growing care gap, with a national pilot program launched in June 2025 by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The initiative aims to test eldercare robots in home, community, and institutional environments, assisting with mobility, medication dispensing, health monitoring, and companionship. Over the next three years, the program will deploy and evaluate hundreds of robotic devices across more than 200 pilot sites.

Chinese tech firms are moving quickly to capitalize on this policy momentum. UBTech, Fourier Intelligence, Unitree Robotics, and Westlake Robotics are among the most prominent players. Westlake Robotics, a 2021 spin-off from Westlake University, has developed Xiao Xi, a multifunctional service robot that delivers meals and medication, guides residents through facilities, and automatically alerts caregivers in case of a fall.

Meanwhile, Fourier Intelligence is adapting its rehabilitation robotics for elder mobility support, and UBTech continues to refine humanoid and pet-like companions designed to alleviate loneliness in senior communities.

The eldercare robotics market, while still nascent, is expanding at a pace. Valued at around RMB 7.9 billion (US$1 billion) in 2024, it is projected to reach CNY 15.9 billion by 2029, roughly doubling in five years. Industry leaders, including iFlytek’s chairman, predict that household companion robots capable of basic caregiving and monitoring could reach mass adoption within the next three years, envisioning a RMB 1 trillion (US$140 billion) future market.

Financial services and real estate

Beyond healthcare and robotics, China’s longevity economy is reshaping its financial and housing sectors, as policymakers and corporations move to secure sustainable models for aging wealth and care. The country’s three-pillar pension framework has matured rapidly, with the introduction of individual retirement accounts (IRAs) in 2022 marking a pivotal step toward private retirement savings.  By the end of 2024, around 70 million personal pension accounts had been opened, though only about a third were active.

Complementing this, the commercial pension-insurance segment has flourished, with over 5,400 annuity plans managing nearly RMB 6 trillion (US$841.90 billion) in assets and covering 100 million consumers. Banks and insurers are also piloting reverse mortgages and home-equity release programs, bundling products that combine housing assets, long-term care coverage, and pension income for retirees.

The senior housing market is becoming one of China’s fastest-growing real estate segments, valued at around US$30 billion in 2024 and projected to more than double to US$70 billion by 2032. Although the vast majority of Chinese seniors still prefer to age at home, developers are expanding continuing-care retirement communities (CCRCs) and age-friendly housing designed for semi-independent living. Taikang Insurance has emerged as a national leader through its Taikang Community brand, operating over 80,000 beds across multiple sites, with new projects under construction.

Lifestyle and wellness

China’s longevity economy is also expanding into lifestyle sectors that emphasize vitality, beauty, and continuous learning. As older consumers become wealthier and more health-conscious, a vibrant wellness and self-care market has taken shape. The country’s anti-aging skincare and cosmetics sector, worth RMB 82 billion (US$11.50 billion) in 2021, is projected to nearly double to RMB 153 billion (US$82 billion) by 2026.

From retinol serums to collagen masks and nutraceuticals, products once limited to luxury counters are now mainstream. Global players such as L’Oréal and Estée Lauder, along with domestic brands like KANS, Whoo, and Infinitus, are targeting mature consumers with science-driven formulations and traditional wellness branding.

Demand for nutraceuticals and longevity supplements is booming. Collagen drinks, herbal tonics (notably ginseng and cordyceps), and vitamin blends from brands like BY-HEALTH dominate online marketplaces such as Taobao and JD.com, where anti-aging products accounted for over 40 percent of top-selling health items in early 2023.

Major nationwide policies shaping China’s longevity market

China’s rapidly aging population has prompted a series of central government policies to cultivate a “longevity market”, that is, industries focused on wellness, eldercare, healthy aging, and senior services. Between 2020 and 2025, the Chinese government has introduced nationwide initiatives to expand elderly care services, spur biotech anti-aging innovation, develop senior-focused finance, and build age-friendly infrastructure.

These include, among others, the policies illustrated in the table below.

Each of these policies reflects China’s top-down approach to turning its aging challenge into an economic opportunity. For businesses, the policy environment from 2020 to 2025 has become increasingly favorable for investing in senior care services, developing anti-aging technologies, creating financial products for retirees, and building an accessible, age-friendly society.

Outlook: From an aging society to a longevity nation

China’s ageing society is no longer viewed solely as a challenge but increasingly as a strategic opportunity. The longevity economy (encompassing healthcare, biotechnology, wellness, and financial services) is now positioned as a core pillar of national development policy. Rather than reacting to ageing, China is moving toward a proactive model that treats longevity as an engine for economic growth, innovation, and social transformation.

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Government policy is shifting from curative healthcare to preventive and regenerative health investment, and, at the same time, private capital and foreign investors are accelerating engagement. The rapid scaling of healthtech, senior living, and wellness sectors points to a structural market expansion, one sustained by both domestic consumption and supportive regulatory environments. Ultimately, the country’s demographic trajectory presents two paths: managing an ageing crisis or harnessing a longevity dividend.

The direction is increasingly clear. By investing in prevention, adapting pension and workplace systems, and cultivating industries that enhance quality of life in later years, China can convert demographic pressure into a multi-trillion-yuan growth frontier and redefine ageing as a source of long-term prosperity.

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