By Maya Kaneko,
In a scenic eastern Chinese city some two hours from Shanghai by high-speed train, well-heeled retirees are beginning to move into a "wellness smart town" that Japan's Panasonic Holdings Corp. has built with a local partner to cater to the demands of China's aging population.
Panasonic and major Chinese health care company Yada International Holdings Ltd. have built 794 condos and 376 detached villas in the 4-square-kilometer resort complex in the Jiangsu Province city of Yixing, with owners arriving from across the country.
The development represents Panasonic's first wellness smart town venture in China and draws on its more than two decades of experience in responding to the needs of an aging population in Japan. The lure for residents is an array of state-of-the-art tech features to help them stay healthy as they head into old age.
Toilets, for example, can assess body fat and heart rate, while urine samples can also be taken, with data accessible by smartphone. A "smart sleep" system, meanwhile, moderates lighting and air conditioning to optimize sleeping conditions and facilitate natural waking.
To cater to nursing care demands, bathrooms are equipped with a shower system that can be used while sitting and a general hospital is located near the 300,000-square-meter community inside the larger complex. A Japanese-style footbath service is provided at a community center.
Although the condos are priced at least 3 million yuan ($436,500) -- roughly double the average condo value in central Yixing, a city famous for its beautiful natural surroundings and clay teapot production -- about half have already been sold.
"In particular, condos with floor space of more than 100 square meters have sold out," a Panasonic official said, adding the residents are mainly retirees in their 50s and 60s, many of whom have sold properties in major cities to relocate to Yixing.
At a ceremony held in late February to commemorate the completion of the condos, Panasonic Executive Vice President Tetsuro Homma, who heads the group's China business, said Panasonic hopes to expand its Chinese business based on its long experience operating in an aging market back in Japan, where it has provided nursing care products and rehabilitation expertise.
He also said he hopes the current project will be a model for cooperation between Japanese and Chinese companies.
Japanese Ambassador to China Hideo Tarumi praised the project for aligning with a November agreement between Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese President Xi Jinping to promote bilateral cooperation in the health care and nursing care industry.
Jiang Jianning, founder and chairman of Yada, said he sees "great potential" for China's health care and nursing care industry as the growing elderly population will require various services.
"Traditionally, old people in China have depended on children, but that lifestyle is outdated now. A new approach toward the nursing care industry is being sought," Jiang said.
In 2022, the population of mainland China shrank for the first time in 61 years, due partially to the consequences of the now-scrapped "one-child policy" restrictions introduced in 1979, with the country's birthrate hitting a record low since its founding in 1949, according to government data.
The population aged 60 and older in China is projected to top 400 million in 2035, accounting for 30 percent of the total.
Yang Kui, a 55-year-old author and calligrapher who moved to the Yixing community after living in Beijing for more than 30 years, said he likes the natural surroundings featuring mountains and lakes and especially enjoys leading a post-retirement life among friends.
He said Panasonic's integrated system gives him a sense of security and comfort. "You can easily control the living environment such as air, lighting and water, even remotely. I had air purifiers in Beijing but they were randomly installed and not integrated," he added.
Many residents of the Yixing community are interested in cultural activities such as music and dance and tend to maintain more of distance from their children than older generations, who favor living with their offspring.
The resort complex has a theater, culture center, stores, library and cafeteria. The residents' children and grandchildren often visit on weekends, the Panasonic official said.
In Japan, the company has developed several "sustainable smart towns" across the country in collaboration with partners including local governments and residents. But the current project in China is a "symbolic" one as it is aimed specifically at retirees and the elderly.
Shigeru Dono, president of Panasonic's China and Northeast Asia unit, said the large number of wealthy people in the world's second-biggest economy has been key to the housing project's success.
Panasonic said it also plans to develop smart towns in 12 other locations in China, including Shanghai and Hebei, Hubei and Shandong provinces. Some of them will target younger people.
The company said it aims to develop similar projects in Southeast Asia in the future after accumulating know-how such as data utilization at smart towns in China.
