Cooperative Elderly Care Services in the Greater Bay Area

By Wang Lingxi

More seniors from Hong Kong and Macao are choosing to spend their twilight years on the Chinese mainland

Senior citizens play cards in a public space in Guangzhou,Guangdong Province,on February 27,2022.(VCG)

The integrated development of Guangdong,Hong Kong,and Macao has been facilitating a high-quality life circle suitable for living,commerce,and tourism.An increasing number of senior citizens from Hong Kong and Macao are choosing Guangdong cities as ideal places to spend their twilight years.

The experts see great potential for cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to cooperate on senior care considering that the Chinese mainland has vast land and abundant human resources while Hong Kong and Macao boast advanced medical services and more experience with social care services.Mainland cities and Hong Kong and Macao could work together to pool strengths and achieve win-win results,which would not only help satisfy the increasing need for senior care in Hong Kong and Macao but also boost the development of medical care and healthcare industries throughout the Greater Bay Area.

High-quality Senior Care Service

Ouyang Liang is a senior from Hong Kong who chose to live out his remaining years in Jiangmen City,Guangdong Province.Though in his eighties,Ouyang is in good health and jogs a few miles every day around his assisted living facility.

Ouyang speaks highly of Jiangmen,which he finds comfortable and spacious for jogging.He recommends his facility and is happy to describe life there for Hong Kong and Macao citizens visiting to have a look.“I hope more Hong Kong and Macao people come to live here after retiring because this place is really great,”he said.

In Jiangmen,Ouyang Liang pays the facility about 4,000 yuan a month for a big single room.In Hong Kong,however,that rate would only get a bed in a shared room.

Assisted living facilities on the Chinese mainland offer not only affordable rooms but also a better environment and facilities.Integrated medical care and health preservation has been widely promoted,and some facilities keep a doctor on duty 24-hoursa-day or choose a location next to a hospital.Such arrangements provide better medical support and greater outdoor spaces,which is beneficial for seniors with chronic diseases.Supportive entertainment facilities such as fitness centers,swimming pools,and even karaoke rooms provide comfort for elderly residents.

“Senior care services are developing and improving,”said Wu Yushao,deputy dean of the Institute of Aging at Fudan University.“In the past,we focused mostly on issues of basic needs,and that was a ‘life-necessities’ type of senior care.But now,we are paying more attention to enriching the lives of people living in care homes.”

As seniors have developed demand for higher-quality care services,many senior care homes in the Greater Bay Area have begun offering classes on classical dancing,folk dancing,and vocal music to further enrich the lives of residents from Hong Kong and Macao.

The 2022 Report on the Work of the Government proposed a push for indepth reform and implementation of strategies on education,medical care,senior care,and transportation to encourage Hong Kong and Macao citizens to live and work in Guangdong.The document provides strong support for cooperative senior care in the Greater Bay Area.

Huang Xiaoyu,a deputy to the National People’s Congress and director of the Department of Cardiology at the People’s Hospital in Yangjiang City,Guangdong Province,suggested that to satisfy the rapidly increasing need for senior care services in the Greater Bay Area,colleges and vocational schools should focus on training healthcare talent,enhancing the talent system,and cultivating more versatile talent capable of providing daily care,medical care,mental health services,cultural education,sports and entertainment education,and even legal consultation.

Assisted living facilities on the Chinese mainland offer not only affordable rooms but also a better environment and facilities.

“We need to work on expanding the talent supply,”Huang said.“Attracting more young people to the medical care and healthcare industries in the Greater Bay Area will expand the talent pool and improve elderly care services.”

Relieving Pressure

Both Hong Kong and Macao are longliving societies with life expectancy of over 84 years.The ever-increasing aging index exerts tremendous pressure on social security,medical care,pension and other livelihood areas.

“By 2040,the population in Hong Kong will reach 8.11 million,”wrote Michael Wong,Secretary for Development with the Development Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.“While both the people and their residential houses are aging rapidly,the need for land to build houses and facilities is huge.”The consensus solution is to prepare to face such challenges however possible.

Promoting cooperative senior care services is just one way.According to the Census and Statistics Department of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,by 2020,of the 540,000 permanent residents of Hong Kong who lived in Guangdong Province,16.5 percent (90,000 or so) were over the age of 65.

Lam Ching-choi,president of the Elderly Commission of Hong Kong,believes that Hong Kong excels at medical care,social services,and planning but has problems with land management and human resources.Guangdong,however,does not grapple with such limitations and is a better place than Hong Kong to build assisted living facilities for many reasons.

Cooperative senior care services are not new to Macao either.In recent years,the governments of Guangdong and Macao rolled out a series of measures to encourage Macao citizens to visit the Guangdong-Macao in-depth cooperation zone in Hengqin,a district in Zhuhai City,Guangdong Province,and possibly relocate there after retirements.Both sides realized 24-hour clearance and have pilot medical insurance programs for people who come to Hengqin from Macao.

The General Union of Neighbourhood Associations of Macao (União Geral das Associações dos Moradores de Macau) introduced the“Macao New Neighborhood”project which integrates senior care,education,and medical care services.The Macao New Neighborhood is expected to be completed by 2023,at which time the comprehensive project with multiple functions including residential houses,medical care,education,and community services for Macao citizens will become a shining example of cooperative senior care in the Greater Bay Area.

Shao Jianbo,director of the Guangzhou center of Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions,agreed that Hong Kong and Macao elderly people living out their twilight years in mainland cities looks like a longterm trend.Preferential policies could increase the numbers greatly.Pressure on elderly care in Hong Kong and Macao could be greatly relieved if their senior citizens are well accommodated.

At this year’s annual sessions of China’s top legislature and top political advisory body,Chen Yong,a Hong Kong deputy to the National People’s Congress and vice president of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB),paid close attention to efforts to develop the economy and improve lives in the Greater Bay Area,including policies on docking between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.

Seniors learn about Greater Bay Area senior care services at the fourth Golden Time Exhibition and Summit held in Hong Kong on March 8,2019.(ZHANG WEI)

A company staffer introduces senior care products to Hong Kong visitors to the 29th Guangzhou Fair on October 27,2021.(VCG)

Chen Yong noted that the social security systems of both sides are different,especially in terms of endowment assurance,unemployment insurance,and the housing provident fund.Hong Kong citizens often feel less encouraged to work in mainland cities because they don’t enjoy the same benefits as living in Hong Kong.

Chen proposed that Hong Kong workers using the housing provident fund in the mainland should be allowed to draw money against it during their employment to purchase or renovate houses in Hong Kong.Similar measures to maintain endowment assurance and unemployment insurance could also help.Such policies would attract more Hong Kong and Macao citizens to work on the mainland but also spend their lives there after retirement.

Investment in Senior Care

The Greater Bay Area boasts huge market potential in the medical care and senior care industries,attracting inflows of both capital and labor.

In February 2019,the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area,in which senior care was mentioned six times.In the document,the government stressed the importance of enhancing coordination between cooperative public services and the social security system and supporting Hong Kong and Macao investors seeking to establish social service institutions including assisted living facilities,in nine cities of the Pearl River Delta area.

Industry professionals are also exploring ways to seize the development opportunities brought by preferential policies.

Wu Xiaoli,a Macao deputy to the National People’s Congress and president of General Union of Macao Residents’Association,believes that Macao is a resident-friendly city,which is evident in its senior care industry.

“Macao has been building and developing institutions of social security services for a long time,”she said.“It has a relatively developed model for senior care services and has gained abundant experience in home-based care for seniors and community elder care.”

Wu mentioned that she was quite happy to see that this year’s government work report said“the system for supporting and caring for senior citizens and people with disabilities will be improved.”She expects to enhance cooperation and communication with mainland cities and encourage more Macao social service institutions to set up organizations on the mainland.“I am eager to work with colleagues on the mainland to tackle aging problems together,”she said.

Antony Leung,former Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and CEO of Nan Fung Group,revealed last December that he was exploring the establishment of a number of international medical and senior care services pilot zones in Guangdong.

Leung explained that in such pilot zones,top-of-the-line medicines and technologies available in the Chinese mainland,Hong Kong,Macao would all be approved for usage,and organizations could hire doctors certified to practice in any of the participating regions.Institutions capable of providing advanced medical services will be encouraged to set up offices in the zones,and medical information will be seamlessly shared between mainland and Hong Kong medical institutions.

Leung predicted the pilot zones would comprehensively improve the quality of medical and senior care services in the Greater Bay Area and result in higher-quality services for all seniors in Guangdong,Hong Kong,and Macao.

“To attract seniors from Hong Kong and Macao,mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area should improve the industrial chain of senior care including daily care,medical rehabilitation,and hospice care,”said Qiu Jianwei,CEO of Taikang Community,a company affiliated to Taikang Healthcare Investment Holdings engaged in building assisted living communities.

The company plans to search for more communities in mainland cities,including Zhuhai and Huizhou,ideal for accommodating seniors from Hong Kong and Macao.Qiu believes that improvement of medical insurance policies will greatly boost the industrial development of senior care services in the Greater Bay Area.