As Jinan transitions into a moderately aging society, the number of permanent residents aged 60 and above has reached nearly 2.25 million. This demographic shift is driving a tangible evolution in the needs of the elderly, who are no longer content with simply having meals and supervision. Their demand is increasingly focused on diversified, high-quality services such as smart care, chronic disease nutrition, and rehabilitation health management.
From September 10 to 12, a matching event focused on silver economy technology and nutritional health resources was held in Jinan. This gathering was a practical application of the “bridging” mechanism established by the Jinan Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau. Leveraging the Jinan Silver Economy Industry Federation as an industry vehicle, the Bureau connected state-owned enterprises, private companies, financial institutions, and research institutes to explore a symbiotic path where elderly care services guarantee a livelihood baseline and the elderly care industry unlocks market growth.
Building a Comprehensive Network for Accessible Care
The elderly care system is the foundation of the silver economy, and a complete service network not only underpins people's livelihoods but also provides vast application scenarios for market players. As one of the first national key contact cities for actively responding to population aging, Jinan has included elderly care in its key livelihood initiatives for ten consecutive years. The city has issued 52 policies to establish a three-tier elderly care service network covering districts, counties, towns, streets, villages, and communities. This network connects county-level management platforms, town and street-level regional care centers, and village and community service stations, extending service delivery directly to residents' doorsteps.
Shandong Huihe Rende Health and Elderly Care Development Co., Ltd., rooted in community care for 17 years, operates over 20 street-level comprehensive care centers and community day-care stations in Jinan. This serves as a vivid example of private sector participation within the network. These centers offer services including senior canteens, assisted bathing, day care, short-term care, and dementia care. Their community care data center, which deploys fall-detection radar and smart call devices into home care beds, uses technology to supplement the limitations of human caregiving. “In reality, about 90% of seniors prefer to age in place, but family care capacity is often insufficient,” said Gong Chengkun, the company's Chairman. “Community-embedded care perfectly combines the warmth of home with the expertise of professional institutions, allowing seniors to enjoy their later years in a familiar environment.”
Looking toward the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, Jinan's roadmap is becoming clearer. By the end of that period, the city aims to achieve 100% coverage of county-level comprehensive care management platforms, town/sub-district regional care centers, and urban community care facilities. This will fully establish a “15-minute elderly care service circle,” enabling more seniors to access professional care without leaving their familiar communities.
Nurturing the Industry Forest to Boost Momentum
As the livelihood foundation is solidified, the soil for Jinan's elderly care industry is also growing more fertile. “The city has now formed a complete elderly care industry system covering 12 major categories with a full industrial chain. By the end of 2025, there are 4,869 enterprises above designated size in the elderly care industry, employing 420,000 people, providing ample momentum for innovative development in both the sector and the industry,” said Wang Jian, a member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the Jinan Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau, also serving as Director of the Municipal Social Organization Administration Bureau.
As the first industry federation in the provincial capital focused exclusively on the silver economy, the Jinan Silver Economy Industry Federation boasts over 200 member units across the entire industrial chain, including elderly care, smart health, senior nutrition, and elderly finance. The civil affairs department uses this federation as a crucial tool for industrial synergy, facilitating resource matching, corporate liaison, and project implementation tracking. This shifts market players from “fighting alone” to “developing collectively.”
Within this ecosystem, state-owned enterprises have become a vital force in providing application scenarios. Licheng City Development Group's Minshan Health and Elderly Care, through its “1+1+N+X” layout, has built a tiered and classified elderly care service system. Its Huai Ju Silver Industry Empowerment Center opens up all its actual operating scenarios to companies in longevity technology, senior nutrition, and rehabilitation aids, allowing new products and solutions to be tested and iterated in real-world environments. “The elderly care sector is a social responsibility that state-owned enterprises must shoulder,” stated Guo Xiaona, Deputy General Manager of Licheng City Development Group and Chairman of its Trade Union. “We must uphold the public welfare purpose while opening up our scenarios to achieve a two-way empowerment between the public good and industry.”
Channeling Financial Resources for Dual Empowerment
With the livelihood foundation secured and industry momentum building, the information gap between supply and demand must also be closed. The Jinan Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau has gone beyond holding short-term matchmaking events to establish a normalized mechanism for connecting and converting resources, acting as a “bridge builder” where the government guides and the market performs.
At a city-wide meeting on June 4th to deepen the reform and development of elderly care services, the strategic direction was set: focus on “nurturing and strengthening” key industries, accelerating development in key sectors, fostering enterprise growth, expanding smart elderly care scenarios and products, and actively developing elderly finance. This year, Jinan has introduced supportive policies for the elderly care industry, promoting the chain and brand operations of care service enterprises. “Elderly care consultants” have been set up in street-level comprehensive care centers, 32 new rental, purchase, and sales points for rehabilitation assistive devices have been added, and regular enterprise matchmaking events, exhibitions, and “elderly care markets” have been held, extending resource connections from large exhibitions into daily operations.
In terms of financial empowerment, China Life Insurance Jinan Branch has moved beyond the traditional approach of merely selling insurance products. They are exploring an integrated path of “insurance protection + professional care + health management,” embedding financial security deeply into physical elderly care scenarios. The long-running “Yinling Ankang” project is a national benchmark public-private cooperative initiative that removes the entry barriers of ordinary commercial insurance, allowing seniors with chronic conditions and even centenarians to be covered. Concurrently, the Qilu Insurance universal medical insurance fills the gaps in costs for major illnesses, specialized drugs, and rehabilitation, with no age restrictions or exclusions for pre-existing conditions. It integrates with Jinan's medical insurance system for one-stop settlement upon hospital discharge.
Insurance agencies are proactively connecting with the city's care institutions and community-based care sites to integrate insurance payment with care service scenarios. They are also developing physical care product lines, such as CCRC senior living communities and urban senior apartments, leveraging the advantages of insurance funds to inject financial vitality into the local industry. “The insurance industry cannot just be about post-hoc claims; it needs to connect protection, capital, and services,” said Ma Zhongchao, Deputy General Manager of China Life's Jinan Branch. “By extending insurance and claims services down to villages and communities, we use financial strength to alleviate family caregiving burdens, transforming elderly care from a heavy family burden into a dignified ‘enjoyment of old age’.”
As the years draw on, warmth prevails. From a single matchmaking event to a full industrial ecosystem, from breaking down information barriers to creating a collaborative framework, Jinan is accelerating the two-way empowerment of its elderly care system and industry. The government's commitment to people's livelihoods and the market's innovative energy are converging across the city. The vision of “caring for the elderly and nurturing them in comfort” is becoming a reality in Jinan, and the city is forging a path of mutual advancement between the public sector and industry, offering a valuable Jinan model for other cities facing the challenges of an aging population.