Editor: Pan Liheng

This article is a joint production by Evergreen Research Society X The Paper · Paike Technology

Have you ever imagined such a scenario: An elderly person who has been bedridden for years due to paralysis puts on an exoskeleton robot and, with mechanical assistance, slowly stands up and takes the first step after falling ill. Tears streaming down their face, they say, 'I thought my life was over, but now I can walk again, just like when I was young...'

This is not a scene from a sci-fi movie but a real-life scenario from 2025, when Fourier Intelligence's exoskeleton robots were deployed in rehabilitation centers. Similar incredible stories are unfolding across the country: In Shanghai, a silver-haired store catering exclusively to the elderly achieved sales exceeding RMB 400,000 in its first month of operation; in Beijing, a severely disabled elderly person saved their children thousands of yuan in nursing fees each month through long-term care insurance and consumer vouchers.

These real-life stories are a true reflection of the silver economy's shift from 'supply-side narratives' to 'demand-side delivery' in 2025. Alongside changes in the supply-demand structure of the silver economy, the market size is expanding. According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's 2025 Silver Economy White Paper, the market size of the silver economy is expected to reach RMB 15.8 trillion this year. The China Social Welfare and Elderly Care Service Association estimates that by 2035, China's silver economy could reach RMB 30 trillion, accounting for 10% of GDP.

Against this backdrop, what trends will emerge in China's silver economy in 2026? Which sectors will continue to thrive? This article will combine the hot sectors and real-time trends of the 2025 silver economy to predict the following three major trends for 2026:

01. Smart Elderly Care Delivery: From 'Single Monitoring' to 'Full-Scene Companionship'

In 2025, the most significant change in the smart elderly care sector is that products are no longer just concepts but have been delivered into the hands of the elderly, becoming practical tools to address their daily needs and provide emotional companionship. By 2026, this sector is expected to become the most explosive part of the silver economy, further realizing its commercial value.

The surge in real market data is often more intuitive (intuitive). According to a report by China Commercial Industry Research Institute on trends in China's smart elderly care, the market size is expected to exceed RMB 700 million in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate exceeding 12%. Financing in the exoskeleton sector has been particularly active, with medical rehabilitation and elderly care tracks receiving RMB 2.23 billion in funding this year. This influx of capital has directly accelerated the transition of products from laboratories to household applications.

Exoskeleton robots can be divided into two categories: medical-grade and consumer-grade, both addressing the core needs of the elderly to 'move and move quickly.' Medical-grade exoskeleton robots, represented by Fourier Intelligence, focus on medical rehabilitation scenarios. The company's ExoMotus series and the new GR-3 model integrate multimodal sensing and neural regulation systems, helping elderly individuals with strokes or spinal cord injuries achieve early standing and natural walking training, with significant clinical feedback.

Another category, consumer-grade exoskeleton robots, includes products like DaAi's 'Shenxing' intelligent knee brace, Chengtian's 'Yixing EasyGo' series, and Aosha's VIATRIX extended-range exoskeleton. Their lightweight design and AI gait recognition capabilities make daily travel and outdoor activities less strenuous for low-age elderly individuals. Entry-level models priced at a few thousand yuan have already been widely piloted in scenic spots and communities. An elderly man in Guangzhou excitedly shared after trying DaAi's intelligent knee brace for hiking, 'My knees don't hurt anymore. Life is more enjoyable when I can explore with my friends.'

The capital market also recognizes the delivery potential of consumer-grade exoskeleton robots. Aosha Intelligence completed multiple rounds of financing in 2025, while Chengtian Technology secured nearly RMB 100 million in Series B funding. This shift from medical-grade heavy assets to consumer-grade light assets exemplifies demand-side delivery.

Parallel to the development of mobility-assistive robots is the intelligentization of emotional companionship and daily services. Huihua Intelligence's 'Xiaobai' robot, powered by the company's self-developed Leiling Large Model, can engage in proactive dialogue and express emotions and gestures. It has already been deployed in multiple elderly care facilities, helping solitary elderly individuals overcome loneliness. iFLYTEK's Yuexiang series (including hearing aid Yuexiang Edition and smart elderly care Yuexiang Terminal) extends beyond health reminders to cognitive games and daily companionship, with products already entering communities on a large scale. Huawei's whole-house smart elderly adaptation solution, based on the HarmonyOS ecosystem, integrates smart home devices to further enable whole-house smart health care, becoming another future-ready smart elderly care solution.

The shift in smart elderly care from single monitoring to comprehensive travel, emotional, and daily life services reflects companies' efforts to better understand the needs of the elderly. With the implementation of policies like the MIIT's 'Robot+' Application Action Implementation Plan, smart elderly care may become the first sector in the silver industry to achieve economic benefits. Smart elderly care will no longer be a distant concept but a gentle technological force that truly safeguards the health of the elderly.

02. Elderly Consumption Upgrade: From 'Basic Satisfaction' to 'Quality-Oriented Aging'

Unlike other consumption sectors entering a period of steady adjustment, the elderly consumption sector has reached new heights in popularity. This surge is driven by solid policy support and market prospects.

According to the China Tourism Academy, total revenue from silver tourism exceeded RMB 1 trillion in 2025, with an annual growth rate exceeding 20%. Platforms like Ctrip and Tongcheng saw silver-haired orders increase by over 26% year-on-year. In the first four months of 2025 alone, 28,700 new elderly-friendly products were launched, bringing the total to 216,000. The market size for elderly health supplements also surpassed RMB 500 billion.

In December 2025, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, along with eight other departments, jointly issued Several Measures to Cultivate Elderly Care Service Operators and Promote the Silver Economy, focusing on supporting large commercial complexes and chain supermarkets in opening elderly-friendly consumption zones and optimizing e-commerce 'senior modes' to improve the consumption environment. Against this heated backdrop, analysis firms like iiMedia Research predict that the total elderly consumption market will reach RMB 4.8 trillion in 2026.

In this wave of silver consumption, immersive offline experiences and online platform services are the two core drivers, pushing silver consumption from impulsive purchases to lifelong services.

Innovation in offline entity (physical) models is exemplified by silver-haired stores. After the first silver-haired store opened in Shanghai, it quickly expanded to over ten cities. These stores offer a one-stop solution for the elderly's pain points in online shopping by providing smart assistive devices, healthy diets, multifunctional clothing, and other products. A staff member at a silver-haired store said, 'Nowadays, elderly people are very curious. Some come not necessarily to buy things but just to see and try new products.'

Online consumption can be divided into tourism and cultural-entertainment categories. In tourism, Ctrip and Taikang Community are the two major players. Ctrip's Senior Club now has over 4.5 million members, and its silver-haired special trains and slow-paced health routes have been extremely popular since their launch, shifting tourism from group tours to personalized, inclusive directions. Taikang Community's 'migratory bird' travel products integrate medical SPA, cultural activities, and other elderly-friendly services, with occupancy rates exceeding 85%.

Another category, cultural-entertainment consumption, is exemplified by Hongsong Academy, which offers interest-based courses and derives products like non-slip dance shoes and health supplements, converting its 10 million users into tangible purchasing power. A learner at Hongsong Academy remarked, 'Since enrolling in online instrument classes, I video-call and play music with my friends every day. Retirement life is fulfilling and happy.'

These silver consumption cases signify a shift from single sales to a full-chain lifestyle supply for the elderly. The elderly-friendly adaptation of consumption services is key to strengthening elderly consumption loyalty. By 2026, with expanded subsidies and improved standards, elderly consumption will unlock greater potential in tourism, elderly-friendly products, cultural-entertainment wellness, and other fields. Let us await the outbreak (outbreak) of this consumption economy.

03. Inclusive Elderly Medical and Health Services: From 'Heavy Burden' to 'Strong Protection'

Like all economic scenarios, people's rigid demands will not wane during development, and medical and health security for the elderly is an enduring topic of our times. From 2025 to 2026, the elderly medical and health sector is shifting from supply-side institutional expansion to more inclusive and secure demand-side services.

In 2025, China introduced several major initiatives, including the Action Plan to Enhance Elderly Care Service Capabilities and the expansion of long-term care insurance trials. To date, China's long-term care insurance covers nearly 300 million people, benefiting over 3.3 million disabled individuals. Over 360,000 disabled elderly individuals have received RMB 800 elderly care consumption vouchers to offset nursing fees, reducing the annual financial burden per person by approximately RMB 12,000. These policies not only expand payment-side security but also encourage social capital to actively enter the integrated medical-elderly care sector.

In 2025, insurance funds directly invested nearly RMB 30 billion in the medical and elderly care sector, covering biotechnology, genetic testing, rehabilitation equipment, and other fields. Financing events for subdivision (niche) projects like big health beverages and chronic disease management platforms have increased, and overall industry investment and financing activity have significantly risen compared to previous years.

In the elderly medical-elderly care sector, leading companies have formed two major categories: 'elderly care-medical integration' and 'education-medical-elderly care integration.' One category is represented by insurance giants like Taikang Insurance, which has deployed 47 projects in 37 cities across China, with 27 already operational and over 18,000 residents. Its 'one community, one hospital' model seamlessly connects acute treatment with long-term care. An aunt living in the Yanyuan Community described, 'I wear a wristband every day, and the data is transmitted to the doctor in real-time. I feel like someone is always watching over me, which is very reassuring.' Meanwhile, China Life and Ping An Group are following this model, continuously promoting a virtuous cycle of elderly medical and health services from passive treatment to prevention-rehabilitation-nursing.

Another category is represented by Neusoft Ruixin, which has built an 'education-medical-elderly care integration' ecosystem by integrating educational prevention, medical intervention, and health care services through urban cloud hospitals and smart platforms. It has already established health and medical technology parks, serving over 100,000 disabled and semi-disabled elderly individuals and securing over RMB 1 billion in financing. This approach incorporates cutting-edge technologies into inclusive services, benefiting local elderly populations.

In addition, leading medical platforms like JD Health and Ali Health are accelerating the construction of silver-haired zones, introducing AI health assistants like 'Ant Afu' and remote consultation services. Ping An Hello Doctor also provides friendly services for chronic disease patients, enabling direct medication delivery and regular follow-ups through insurance-medical integration.

In 2026, with the improvement of long-term care insurance mechanisms and technological integration, this sector will become the most Livelihood thickness (people-centric) pillar of the silver economy. Although issues like nursing talent shortages and regional development imbalances remain to be addressed, the path to inclusivity has already illuminated the lives of millions of elderly individuals—shifting from burden to security, from passivity to proactivity, it responds to the greatest anxieties of an aging society in the warmest way possible.

It is not difficult to see that the core reason for the outbreak (outbreak) of these three sectors lies in increasingly precise supply-demand alignment. Smart elderly care lowers barriers and enhances companionship, elderly consumption fulfills higher enjoyment needs, and medical and health services provide strong protection, truly shifting from 'supply-side narratives' to 'demand-side delivery.'

For industry practitioners, as Wu Yushao, President of the China National Committee on Aging, said at the '2025 China Silver Habitat Development Conference,' 'The silver economy is the most certain and stable major industry.' In 2026, we stand at the watershed of moving from 'conceptual discussions' to 'delivering results'—the answers will be jointly written by enterprises that delve into the real scenarios of the elderly and balance technology with humanism.