The 2025 Government Work Report emphasizes the need to "actively respond to population aging, improve policy mechanisms for developing elderly care services and industries, and vigorously develop the silver economy," providing clear direction for building elderly care service systems in the new era. Elderly care service consumption serves as an important lever for boosting domestic demand, aligning not only with the strategic deployment of expanding consumption by the Party Central Committee and State Council, but also directly relating to the sense of fulfillment and happiness of hundreds of millions of elderly people.

By the end of 2024, Xuzhou's registered elderly population aged 60 and above reached 2.2439 million, accounting for 21.87% of the total registered population. As a city with a large aging population, systematically advancing elderly care service system construction and unleashing silver consumption potential has become an important issue for Xuzhou in promoting high-quality development and creating high-quality life.

Taking this as an opportunity, Xuzhou focuses on "benefiting people's livelihood and promoting consumption," addressing the "urgent, difficult, worrying, and hoped-for" needs of elderly people. Through optimizing consumption conditions, innovating consumption scenarios, and improving policy support, the city is implementing measures such as age-friendly renovation upgrades, policy subsidy applications, and smart home integration, ensuring that policy dividends translate into tangible life improvements for elderly people and injecting more "sunset vitality" into the city's high-quality economic and social development.

**Supply Expansion: Building Multi-Level Elderly Care Service Systems to Weave a Dense Social Security Net**

Just after 11 AM, the Elder Cafeteria at Xinyuan Community on Dalong Lake Street gradually becomes lively. Stir-fried seasonal vegetables, braised fish, tomato scrambled eggs... staff members are busy portioning hot, steaming dishes. Outside the cafeteria, Aunt Zhao from Zhongrui Xingshang City residential complex has arrived as scheduled with her old neighbors.

"Eating alone, I always think about making do. Now I can walk a few steps to the cafeteria, with variety, affordable prices, and I can chat with old friends. Life couldn't be more comfortable!" Aunt Zhao says with a smile while dining.

Such scenes are simultaneously unfolding in multiple street communities across Xuzhou. In recent years, Xuzhou has accelerated the construction of a multi-level elderly care service system based on "home as the foundation, community as support, and institutions as backup," comprehensively responding to the diverse and multi-level service needs of elderly people.

As an important component of Xuzhou's home-based elderly care service network, Elder Cafeterias not only solve the "difficulty eating" problem for elderly people but have also become their "new base" for social interaction. Here, hot meals warm the stomach, considerate service warms the heart, and neighborhood companionship warms emotions. "Going to the cafeteria for meals" has gradually become a new lifestyle habit for many Xuzhou elderly residents.

Through long-term exploration, Xuzhou's Elder Cafeterias extend beyond dining services to comprehensively meet both material and spiritual needs of elderly people, deeply integrating dining services with cultural entertainment, health management, and other functions, achieving "one meal driving multiple services."

"We build Elder Cafeterias not only to let elderly people eat comfortably but also to let them 'play well' and 'live happily,'" explains a relevant official from Xuzhou's civil affairs department. Currently, many Elder Cafeterias throughout the city operate in integration with home-based elderly care service centers, equipped with card rooms, karaoke rooms, screening rooms, calligraphy rooms, and other functional spaces, providing rich spiritual and cultural life for elderly people while meeting basic dining needs, exploring new models for age-friendly community construction.

Beyond community elderly care, professional elderly care institutions are becoming new choices for more and more elderly people. Data released by the State Administration of Taxation shows that with the diversified growth in elderly care service demand, in the first half of this year, sales revenue for community elderly care services, institutional elderly care services, and home-based elderly care services increased by 30.4%, 22.6%, and 18% year-on-year respectively. Among these, institutional elderly care services demand closely follows community elderly care, showing rapid growth.

This trend is equally significant in Xuzhou, with more and more elderly people beginning to accept and choose professional institutional elderly care services. At Xinyi City's Zhongwu Elderly Care Service Center, functional rooms including reading rooms, entertainment rooms, and spiritual care rooms are complete. Each living room is equipped with age-friendly facilities such as digital televisions, independent wardrobes, and emergency call systems. Over 50 medical and nursing staff are all certified, providing 24-hour professional care for resident elderly.

"Living well here, eating well, and the staff are considerate—it's much more comfortable than at home!" says 79-year-old Uncle Zhang with a smile. According to reports, this elderly care enterprise provides comprehensive, high-quality integrated medical, rehabilitation, care, and entertainment services through professional and standardized services. Daily activities such as movie screenings, card games, and calligraphy practice continue uninterrupted, making elderly residents' later years fulfilling and exciting.

Similar high-quality elderly care institutions are rapidly establishing themselves in Xuzhou. Jiurucheng alone operates multiple elderly care complexes, hospitals, professional elderly care institutions, and day care centers in Xuzhou.

"I'm 76 years old and have lived here for over two years. Every day is packed full—singing, crafts, participating in interest classes. Retirement life has never been this exciting!" At Jiurucheng Quanshan Care Center, Aunt Yang cannot stop praising. She indicates that she actively chose institutional elderly care, saying, "It's no longer the old impression of a 'lonely old folks' home.'"

With changing consumption concepts and improved payment capabilities, more and more elderly people are willing to choose professional elderly care institutions, showing characteristics of multi-level and rapid growth, reflecting the enormous potential demand for professional elderly care services among elderly people.

**Smart Empowerment: Accelerating Silver Product Innovation, Creating "Smart+" Elderly Care Scenarios**

"Through hand cranking, I can adjust the back-raising angle and knee-bending height. There's also a one-touch call device at the bedside. In emergencies, pressing the button brings nursing staff quickly," says Wang Changzhi, a Quanshan District resident who applied for a family nursing-type elderly care bed for his 92-year-old father, equipped with professional smart nursing beds and call systems. "With these smart devices, my father can enjoy the same professional services at home as in a nursing home, giving us children more peace of mind."

In Gulou District, 74-year-old Uncle Wang also enjoys the convenience brought by smart elderly care. Early this year, under his son's guidance, he conducted age-friendly renovations to his home. According to Xuzhou's age-friendly renovation subsidy policy, the government subsidizes 30% while individuals bear 70%, ultimately costing him only 14,700 yuan personally.

After renovation, his home added facilities including shower chairs, energy-efficient ceiling lights, smart toilets, and age-appropriate chairs. "Now I don't fear slipping while bathing, and lights automatically turn on when I get up at night. These renovations are particularly practical, making home-based elderly care safer and more convenient," Uncle Wang says.

"Growing old without leaving family, aging without leaving home" is the wish of most elderly people. To help more elderly people achieve "home-based elderly care," Xuzhou actively responds to national policies, continuously advancing home age-friendly renovation work. In 2025, Xuzhou comprehensively implements Jiangsu Province's new age-friendly renovation regulations, dramatically increasing subsidy limits from 3,000 yuan to 15,000 yuan, expanding coverage to all households with resident elderly people aged 60 and above throughout the city, significantly reducing family renovation costs through a standard of "individuals bearing 70%, government subsidizing 30%."

Data shows that age-friendly renovation content covers 68 products across 7 major categories including smart door locks, fall detection radar, and emergency call systems, extending intelligent age-friendly services to the "last meter" of elderly people's lives.

Beyond home age-friendly renovations, Xuzhou actively explores new "Smart+" elderly care scenarios, promoting deep integration of internet, IoT, artificial intelligence, and other technologies with elderly care services, making intelligent services benefit more elderly people.

At Xinqu Street's Yinshan Jiayuan Home-based Elderly Care Service Center, dozens of elderly people are participating in "cloud consultations" through large screens. This is an online medical service jointly launched by civil affairs departments, Xuzhou First People's Hospital, and smart elderly care enterprises.

"In the past, going to the hospital required two bus transfers. Now I can consult facing the screen and even have medicine delivered home," says 72-year-old Aunt Wang, giving a thumbs up to this service.

At Peixian Jing'an Nursing Home, each room is equipped with intelligent professional medical facilities such as call systems and central oxygen supply systems, providing necessary medical and rehabilitation services for disabled and semi-disabled elderly people, achieving a closed loop of "monitoring, warning, and intervention."

Today, digital technologies including electronic screens, smartphones, and smart wearable devices are deeply integrating into the daily lives of Xuzhou's elderly people, with intelligent services rapidly penetrating all aspects of elderly care services. Even caregivers now use smart badge recorders—the "HeDialing" S38 device launched by China Mobile IoT Company and Jiangsu Mobile, featuring real-time intercom, video recording, precise positioning, and other functions, significantly improving nursing efficiency and emergency response capabilities while effectively enhancing elderly care service efficiency and safety.

From smart nursing equipment to "cloud consultations," from age-friendly renovations to smart elderly care platforms, Xuzhou is helping elderly people better adapt to and enjoy intelligent life through a series of technological innovations and scenario optimizations, pushing "smart elderly care" from concept to reality and injecting technological momentum into silver economy development.

**Potential Release: Focusing on Diverse Consumer Needs, Activating New Drivers of Silver Economy**

"Winter trips to Hainan to escape the cold, summer trips to Hebei and Northeast China to beat the heat—two or three trips yearly make later life increasingly exciting!" On September 14th, Xuzhou elderly resident Aunt Zhang, just returning from a 12-day Northeast trip, was sharing travel photos and experiences with old friends.

With improved living standards and changing consumption concepts, more and more elderly people like Aunt Zhang pursue "self-pleasing" consumption, with their consumption needs leaping from "survival-oriented" to "development-oriented," injecting new vitality into silver economy development.

The booming elderly tourism market vividly demonstrates the release of Xuzhou's silver consumption potential. Multiple travel agencies in the city report that since 2024, tourists aged 60 and above account for over 60% of all orders, with the elderly tourism market continuing to expand. Targeting elderly people's tourism needs characteristics, travel agencies have timely launched specialty products such as "residential elderly care," "family tours," and "slow-paced sightseeing," partnering with surrounding cities to launch silver tourism special trains providing full-journey medical escort, barrier-free facility guarantees, and other services, further stimulating elderly tourism consumption potential.

Beyond tourism consumption, elderly education consumption also shows rapid growth. Xuzhou has built an elderly education system of "municipal demonstration, county-level backbone, township-street supplementation" centered on 13 elderly universities, offering diverse elderly courses including watercolor painting, calligraphy, vocal music, health preservation, and information technology usage. Some popular courses are even "impossible to get seats for."

These activities not only meet elderly people's spiritual and cultural needs but also drive cultural consumption growth, becoming an important component of the silver economy. Liu Xiulan, a 68-year-old student in the elderly university's watercolor painting class, frequently posts her works on social platforms, not only receiving likes from netizens nationwide but also meeting many like-minded friends.

"Before, I always felt life was meaningless after retirement. Only after attending elderly university did I discover that later life can be so fulfilling—not only learning new knowledge but also finding joy," Liu Xiulan says.

Online consumption has also become a "new habit" for Xuzhou's silver demographic. While young people's enthusiasm for shopping festivals gradually cools, large numbers of elderly people are actively joining the "online shopping army." Meanwhile, convenient and intelligent health products are becoming new essentials for silver consumption, driving the elderly consumer market toward quality and diversification.

"I used to think online shopping was complicated. After learning from my children a few times, I discovered that clicking on my phone can buy what I want with home delivery—much more convenient than going to supermarkets!" says 72-year-old Aunt Chen. The electric standing assist device she recently purchased in a livestream was specifically designed for elderly people. "Even with little strength, it's easy to use safely for sitting up and standing—particularly friendly for us elderly people."

Now, she not only shops online herself but also helps neighbors place orders, becoming the community's "online shopping expert."

To better serve elderly consumers, e-commerce platforms and even electronic products have optimized service experiences specifically, launching age-friendly functions such as large-font interfaces, voice search, "one-click ordering," and home pickup/return services, allowing elderly people to easily enjoy digital consumption convenience.

The silver tide surges, and Pengcheng (Xuzhou) renews itself. Xuzhou's silver consumption market has become an important force driving domestic demand and promoting economic growth. Looking ahead, Xuzhou will focus on elderly people's diverse needs, continuously improving elderly care service systems, optimizing consumption environments, and innovating consumption scenarios to release silver economy potential, allowing elderly people to share in economic and social development achievements, making the sunset glow not only a moving landscape but also a surging new economic driver.