Zhiyu Xiaolao Group: Empowering the Silver Economy with Digital Innovation Across 40+ Cities and Over RMB 100 Million in Annual Revenue
The spring breeze sweeps across the land of China.
In January this year, the General Office of the State Council issued the “Opinions on Developing the Silver Economy to Enhance the Well-being of the Elderly” (hereinafter referred to as the “Opinions”). At a regular policy briefing, the National Development and Reform Commission pointed out that the silver economy encompasses both the “elderly-stage elderly economy” and the “pre-elderly-stage preparation-for-old-age economy.” “Combining the supply-side development foundation with the demand characteristics of the elderly and those preparing for old age, the ‘Opinions’ focus on planning seven high-potential industries. These range from daily necessities for the elderly, smart health and elderly care products, and rehabilitation assistive devices needed by seniors themselves, to high-quality services such as anti-aging interventions, pension finance, and elderly tourism, as well as age-friendly adaptations across society.”
This is undoubtedly a major positive development for industry practitioners.
As a company that entered the sector as early as 2012, Zhiyu Elderly Care Group has been leveraging digital technologies to empower the silver economy for over a decade. Even during the challenging pandemic period, the group achieved remarkable annual revenue exceeding RMB 100 million.
For Zhiyu Elderly Care Group, which has been in the industry for over a decade, it has witnessed nearly the entire development of the elderly care sector.
Liu Fangxiao, Founder of Zhiyu Elderly Care Group
In 2012, Liu Fangxiao, founder of Zhiyu Elderly Care Group, began leading the company’s transition from providing intelligent building solutions to the digital elderly care sector.
Behind this strategic pivot lay two key drivers. On one hand, the smart building solutions market had already become a “red ocean,” with business growth hitting a ceiling, prompting Zhiyu Elder Care Group to urgently seek out a “blue ocean” market. The elderly care sector clearly fit this description—at the time, policies had not yet been fully liberalized, and the industry was still in a phase of slow, exploratory development. On the other hand, the decision was driven by personal empathy. At that time, Liu Fangxiao, his elder brother, and their parents were living in three different locations. He deeply felt the need for high-quality elderly care services and was eager to leverage his own capabilities to better care for his parents.
In fact, with the increase in life expectancy and the decline in birth rates in China, the aging population and inverted pyramid demographic structure will undoubtedly become a major challenge for society. Factors such as empty-nest households will further exacerbate care issues for disabled, dementia-afflicted, and very elderly individuals.
Meanwhile, Liu Fangxiao views digitalization as the key to solving this problem.It was also in this year that Zhiyu Elderly Care Group began to deeply layout the elderly care market.
And they have undoubtedly seized the first-mover advantage.
2013 is regarded as the inaugural year of China’s elderly care industry. During this year, numerous elderly care policies were introduced, with the government encouraging non-governmental entities to participate in the development of the sector. Zhiyu Xiaolao Group also benefited from unprecedented policy dividends, ushering in a period of rapid growth for the company.
FollowingIn 2012, Zhiyu Elderly Care Group undertook the Smart Elderly Care Solution Project for the Xiamen Social Welfare Center., by leveraging digital technologies and smart hardware products, to enable children to provide remote care for their elderly parents and promptly stay informed about their living conditions at home,In 2015, Zhiyu Elderly Care Group Won the Bid for the Xiamen Elderly Care Service Information Platform, winning the bid for this project also allowed Zhiyu Elderly Care Group to quickly establish a firm foothold in Xiamen. Subsequently, as a model for Fujian Province’s community-based home elderly care system, Zhiyu Elderly Care Group achieved coverage across 17 districts and counties in Fujian around 2017, and with theFollowing the completion of its RMB 30 million Series A financing in 2018, Zhiyu Xiaolao Group began its comprehensive expansion into the national market.
As Zhiyu Elderly Care Group expanded from the Xiamen market to the national market, it progressively achieved a transition through several stages: from an elderly care information service platform, to a provider of physical elderly care services, and finally to meeting the diversified demands of the “silver economy.”
Looking back on the more than ten-year development history of the elderly care sector, Liu Fangxiao noted that the shift in terminology from “elderly care” to the “silver economy” signifies that we have moved beyond addressing basic elderly care needs to pursuing a high-quality lifestyle for seniors. Undoubtedly, this transition harbors greater potential and opportunities.
To date, Zhiyu Elderly Care Group has expanded its presence to over 40 cities across China, reaching the national market. It serves nearly 4 million elderly users, with annual service engagements exceeding 10 million person-times.
In fact, as early as 2018, Zhiyu Elderly Care Group had already acquired nursing homes, securing 150 elderly care beds. It is reported that, to date, Zhiyu Elderly Care has expanded to four nursing homes with nearly 1,000 beds. The successful acquisition of these nursing homes also signifies that Zhiyu Elderly Care Group has completed the construction of its four-tier home-based elderly care service system: “Platform–Care Center–Community–Household.”
In short, by building a four-tier home-based elderly care service system, Zhiyu Xiaolao Group has achieved online remote monitoring (enabling emergency alerts for accidents and providing services such as phone chats through connected smart terminal devices) and offline in-home services (such as meal assistance, bathing assistance, and medical accompaniment to meet the needs of the elderly population).
Liu Fangxiao mentioned,Zhiyu Elder Care Group focuses on community-based home care as its entry point, accumulating elderly care data and establishing community access points. Driven by big data analytics and tailored to the needs of older adults, the company builds a service platform for the silver economy industry chain. It integrates resources across the elderly care sector, designs, develops, and customizes age-appropriate products and services, provides diversified offerings for seniors, and fosters an ecosystem for the silver industry.
Guided by this approach, Zhiyu Elder Care Group is actively expanding its population coverage.
On one hand, Zhiyu Elderly Care Group has achieved extensive user coverage through its government-facing (To G) business, which includes the construction and operation of information platforms for elderly care services, the management and operation of sub-district care centers and community-based home care service stations, in-home care services, age-friendly home modifications, and long-term care services. On the other hand, the group is actively expanding its consumer-facing (To C) user base through its proprietary channels. To better meet user needs, Zhiyu Elderly Care Group is also collaborating with high-quality business-facing (To B) institutions to provide pharmaceutical and medical services to seniors, thereby ensuring more comprehensive coverage of their requirements.
Home Visit
It is reported that the current revenue ratio of Zhiyu Xiaolao Group’s To-G business to its To-C business is approximately 7:3. This disparity in business composition stems from the group’s understanding of the industry. Liu Fangxiao, who has conducted overseas inspections of the elderly care industries in Japan and other countries, recognized that a prevalent issue in the sector is high investment coupled with low returns. To address this challenge more effectively, Zhiyu Xiaolao Group leverages its To-G services to deliver scaled solutions, enabling rapid market expansion at lower costs. Simultaneously, by relying on its well-established service system, the group has strengthened its brand and corporate image. Meanwhile, its To-C services represent an effort to expand its consumer user base, creating greater potential for future revenue growth.
Obviously, in addition to the provision of elderly care services,Zhiyu Xiaolao Group recognized early on the core of the “silver economy”—meeting the diverse needs of the elderly beyond elder care services.
In Liu Fangxiao’s own words, “We are a ‘Joyful Filial Piety’ club where seniors can socialize, travel together, and provide mutual care in daily life. The platform offers service packages that gradually expand as seniors age.” To better meet the needs of the silver-haired population beyond elderly care, Zhiyu Xiaolao Group has also made extensive attempts in the silver economy. With senior education (“Joyful Filial Learning”) as its entry point, Zhiyu Xiaolao Group integrates backend supply chain resources based on the actual needs of the elderly to design, develop, and customize age-appropriate “Joyful Filial Learning” courses, providing a comprehensive solution. Meanwhile, it continues to expand value-added services in entertainment, tourism, premium products, and health and wellness.
Leveraging its strong brand power to reach a substantial number of seniors, in order to better support and expand the scope of services,Currently, Zhiyu Elderly Care Group is also attracting third parties to build a city-wide matrix of campus networks through its franchise and investment promotion model., leveraging online new media and internet promotion (short videos, live streaming) to empower campuses and drive traffic, while establishing the Huanxiao membership system to build an S2B2C full-scenario model.
The aforementioned achievements are attributable to Zhiyu Elderly Care Group’s years of accumulated experience. On one hand, the group boasts a team of over 1,000 professionals, whose core members share a strong belief in “altruism” and have long been engaged in the elderly care industry. On the other hand, Zhiyu Elderly Care Group has built a solid foundation in platform digitalization over many years, establishing standardized SOPs within the elderly care sector.
For Zhiyu Elderly Care Group, its envisioned future role is that of an intelligent middle platform—leveraging its digital capabilities to empower the “smart aging” transformation of the industry. Furthermore, by harnessing its own competencies to connect B-side industry resources, it aims to deliver enhanced services for the elderly.
To achieve this goal, Zhiyu Elderly Care Group is currently undertaking a new round of financing. Liu Fangxiao stated that the primary purpose of the financing is to expand market coverage, further replicate its business model, and extend it to the national market. Additionally, the funds will be used to further enhance the functionalities and capabilities of its digital platform, ensuring stable performance when connecting with a larger number of B-side clients. Furthermore, Zhiyu Elderly Care Group plans to continue advancing the development and construction of its core supporting facilities.
All of these are based on judgments regarding future trends.
Liu Fangxiao pointed out that, on the one hand, population aging is an unstoppable trend that will increasingly impact our current society, undoubtedly bringing greater pressure and challenges to society as a whole. This challenge will become even more severe with the growing number of “new elderly” individuals—those born in the 1960s and later who are entering old age. On the other hand, the development of the silver economy corresponds to the further release of demand among the elderly population, suggesting that we may be approaching a golden window for silver consumption. Compared with younger groups, in addition to needs for elderly care and support, older adults have two core demands: first, spiritual needs, reflecting their unwillingness to be marginalized by society; and second, physical needs, centered on the desire to achieve better anti-aging outcomes.
The development of the silver economy will bring further prosperity to the market.
Against this backdrop, it has become particularly important to leverage digital platforms to analyze data needs and ensure timely response to and fulfillment of service demands. Zhiyu Elderly Care Group, which began its strategic layout in this area over a decade ago, has already established a deep presence in the field.
“Adopting a more inclusive and open mindset toward industry development, and further supporting and encouraging the growth of the silver economy, will bring a better life and future to the elderly population,” mentioned Liu Fangxiao.