Two elderly people relocate to Sanya City, south China's Hainan Province, to enjoy their retirement, January 17, 2019. /CFP
In a senior health and care center in Yanjiao, north China's Hebei Province, over 5,000 elderly residents have found a new home, with 95 percent of them coming from Beijing. Here, two seniors share a one-bedroom apartment of about 60 square meters, costing around 8,000 yuan per month, about one-third cheaper than similar facilities in Beijing.
As China's aging population rapidly increases, a new trend is emerging among China's elderly population: cross-city retirement. The shift sees elderly residents from large cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou moving to neighboring cities with better living conditions and lower costs to enjoy their golden years.
Beijing is one of the fastest-aging cities in the country. By the end of 2023, 22.6 percent of its citizens was aged 60 and above. Many seniors live in outdated neighborhoods, with limited senior care facilities. And urban land in Beijing is scarce, which means less space for senior care facilities that are often expensive and hard to access.
To ease the burden, a pilot program for coordinated senior care services was launched in 2016 between Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei. In March this year, the civil affairs departments of the three regions issued a plan to deepen this collaboration, extending Beijing's high-quality senior care and healthcare resources to Tianjin and Hebei. Seniors from Beijing's Xicheng District living in Tianjin or Hebei can receive a monthly subsidy of 600 yuan for out-of-town senior care. Currently, over 120,000 elderly residents from Beijing and Tianjin are enjoying senior care in Hebei.
"We cater primarily to seniors from Beijing. They have significant cultural needs. Therefore, we have set up a senior university, gym and swimming pool, along with nurse stations staffed with professional doctors and nurses on each floor," said Li Haiyan, head of the senior care institution.
The Yangtze River Delta region is also seeing a rise in cross-city retirement, with many elderly people opting for "vacation-style retirement," traveling and living in different places based on the season. Shanghai, the business center of the region, is highly aging, with seniors aged 60 and above making up 36.8 percent of its total population.
Since 2018, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui have piloted regional senior care integration, optimizing resources across a larger area. For example, Huzhou, a city in east China's Zhejiang Province, located in the heart of the Yangtze River Delta, has become a popular destination for its convenient transportation and vibrant health and tourism industry. In recent years, Huzhou has built several elderly care communities, attracting seniors from cities like Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou for short-term stays or long-term residence.
Currently, the region is planning and building a variety of health and tourism institutions. To meet the needs of elderly people in poor health requiring professional care, 108 senior care institutions with nearly 50,000 beds in about 40 cities in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui are now open to seniors from the delta region.
"With the accelerated aging process in China, the elderly have an increasing ability and willingness to pay for senior care. Their demands for personalized and diverse services are also growing. It is crucial to help seniors transition from survival-based retirement to enjoyment and participation-based retirement," said Xu Qihua, president of the Shanghai Senior Care Service Industry Association.
A medical worker checks on an elderly person at a senior care facility, Shanghai, May 20, 2020. /CFP
What supports cross-city retirement?
China has vigorously promoted regional integration in areas such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the Yangtze River Delta, greatly shortening travel times between cities and narrowing service quality gaps. This, along with smoother inter-regional policy connections, provides more convenient conditions for cross-city retirement.
In the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, a one-hour transportation circle in the core area and a 1.5-hour circle between adjacent cities have been formed. Continuous improvement of medical treatment and direct settlement of inter-regional medical expenses have also facilitated cross-city retirement.
"Comfortable living environments and cost-effectiveness are major considerations for out-of-town retirement, so resolving inter-regional medical treatment issue is crucial for seniors. From 2019 to 2023, the number of inter-provincial designated hospitals connected online increased from over 5,000 to more than 80,000, greatly enhancing accessibility and promoting cross-city retirement," said Liu Yuanli, a professor at the School of Health Management and Policy at Peking Union Medical College.
The recent concluded third plenary session of the Communist Part of China's 20th Central Committee adopted a resolution, which listed more than 300 reform measures, including further reforms to develop the silver economy, improve senior care institutions' operating mechanisms, and promote senior care services.
Experts suggested that to meet the diversified and personalized senior care needs of the silver generation, beyond healthcare services, cross-city retirement should also cater to the spiritual and cultural needs of the elderly. For example, the government should guide public cultural resources moving from central cities to neighboring areas, and narrowing public service gaps to create more convenience for cross-city retirement.