- 2025,03,09
On the coast of the East China Sea in Dongtou District, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, abundant marine resources serve as the cradle of the life health industry. In recent years, the silver economy has emerged as a new frontier for development. Rooted on the island, Zhejiang Chengyi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Chengyi Pharmaceutical") has embarked on a journey of "seeking remedies from the sea," building a "marine pharmaceutical matrix" to weave a health safety net for the elderly, ensuring a "happy later life."
As society transitions from "elderly care" to "elderly enjoyment," the life health industry is also moving towards standardization and expansion, prompting private enterprises to explore positive interactions between the industry chain and social value, thereby contributing to the construction of "Healthy China."
The company values corporate culture construction and frequently organizes various recreational and sports activities for employees.
"Aging with Potential": The Silver Economy Heads into a New Frontier
High-purity fish oil, green pharmaceutical glucosamine, neuroacid series foods... At the Chengyi Pharmaceutical Health Industry Park in Wenzhou Dongtou, intelligent assembly lines operate at high speed. Workers are intently focused on their respective posts as boxes of medications are packed, inspected, and shipped nationwide via conveyor belts.
The market serves as the vane for corporate production. Data indicates that by the end of 2024, China's population aged 60 and above reached 310.31 million, accounting for 22% of the national population, with the degree of population aging continuing to deepen. The silver economy encompasses diverse fields such as healthcare, wellness, and cultural tourism consumption, with a market size expected to reach several trillion yuan by 2025. "In response to China entering an aging and even 'super-aging' era, we focus on health management for the middle-aged and elderly, initially establishing a life health industry with Chengyi Pharmaceutical's characteristics, crafting a matrix of health products, and providing systematic solutions for chronic disease management among the middle-aged and elderly," said Zhao Chunjian, General Manager of Chengyi Pharmaceutical.
As he stated, the silver economy is accelerating towards a new frontier, bringing "golden opportunities" to numerous private enterprises, including Chengyi Pharmaceutical. In 2024, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Developing the Silver Economy to Enhance the Well-being of the Elderly." Over the past year, the silver economy across the country has developed towards scale, standardization, clustering, and branding, cultivating numerous high-precision and high-quality products and service models. Currently, Shanghai, Hunan, Guangdong, and other regions have listed the silver economy as key livelihood projects, proposing measures such as expanding the supply of elderly care services, developing smart elderly care, and promoting innovation in products for the elderly, endeavoring to enhance the well-being of the elderly from multiple aspects.
Zhao Chunjian believes that the high attention given by governments at all levels to the high-quality development of the silver economy fully demonstrates the urgent market demand for high-quality elderly health products. Currently, enterprises are directly reaching the vast middle-aged and elderly consumer groups through digital channels such as online stores and mini-programs, exploring a new silver economy model of "product + service," and achieving preliminary results.
Zhao Chunjian (left) and Luo Feiyue, two senior executives from Chengyi Pharmaceutical, attending a live streaming event hosted by CCTV.
Targeting Pain Points: Matrix Thinking in Building the Great Health Industry
Grasping the pulse of the silver economy lies in addressing the "pain points" in the lives of the elderly. Metabolic diseases, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, psychiatric disorders... Numerous common geriatric conditions plague the "silver-haired generation" in daily life.
Against this backdrop, Chengyi Pharmaceutical has conducted long-term observations and research on common long-term issues among the middle-aged and elderly, such as osteoarthritis, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and weakened immunity, launching a series of products including pure natural glucosamine, ultra-high purity fish oil EPA and DHA soft capsules, and cordyceps cicadae series, forming differentiated competitiveness and enriching the domestic product line in this field.
After the successive launch of the aforementioned products, they have gained widespread market acceptance. Currently, the company has become a leading enterprise in Wenzhou's life health industry chain, and a "Chengyi section" serving the health of the middle-aged and elderly nationwide is gradually maturing.
The company's market strategy during the 14th Five-Year Plan period is a microcosm of the silver economy entering a phase of "market segmentation." This requires enterprises to change their original business models, identify their positions precisely, and develop diversified and refined new products. To further achieve full-chain coverage from research and development to the market, Chengyi Pharmaceutical has established an automated, informatized, intelligent, and standardized "smart factory" for comprehensive pharmaceutical preparations that can be visited throughout the process, as well as a 300-acre garden-style health industry park, laying a solid foundation for the life health industry to expand nationwide.
In addition, in 2023, the company established the "Chengyi Great Health Zhejiang Center" in downtown Wenzhou, integrating research and development, production, and sales resources, collaborating with medical and elderly care institutions, constructing a "medical-care integration" service model, and promoting successful experiences nationwide.
Zhao Chunjian introduced that currently, the enterprise focuses on three development directions: marine pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, and traditional Chinese medicine, promoting the transformation from generic drugs to innovative drugs, achieving full-process, full-category, and full-chain layout from food to health supplements to pharmaceuticals, and demonstrating leadership in areas such as advancing marine biopharmaceutical development, promoting medical-care integration, facilitating chronic disease management, and supporting middle-aged and elderly health.
The Path Ahead: Collaborative Enhancement of the Industry Chain and Social Value
Driven by multiple forces, the silver economy, as it delves deeper, exhibits trends towards intelligent and diversified services.
For example, some regions have begun to develop smart elderly care devices incorporating technologies such as the Internet of Things and AI, exploring new scenarios such as telemedicine and health monitoring. Others have created "silver economy experience zones," promoting industrial tourism models to extend the consumption chain.
The silver economy, which concerns the happy later years of citizens, is not only a market opportunity but also carries social responsibility. "As a private enterprise, we will adopt the concept of 'market welfare,' leveraging product innovation and public welfare initiatives to allow more elderly people to share the fruits of development, achieving a win-win situation for corporate and social value," said Zhao Chunjian.
Therefore, Chengyi Pharmaceutical's development strategy has been upgraded repeatedly: deepening marine drug and biopharmaceutical research and development, expanding the international market for traditional Chinese medicine; collaborating with financial institutions to explore the "silver economy + insurance" model, developing products such as long-term care insurance to improve risk safeguards; strengthening technological innovation, with subsidiary Ruicheng Biomedical Technology Co., Ltd. collaborating with Shanghai Ruijin Hospital to develop a patented product for the treatment of pancreatic cancer – "Disposable Negative Pressure Drainage Kit," successfully achieving patent conversion...
As society transitions from "elderly care" to "elderly enjoyment," an increasing number of private enterprises are proactively exploring social value, enhancing the quality of life for the middle-aged and elderly through products and services, and supporting the goal of "Healthy China."
From a traditional pharmaceutical enterprise to a "new noble" in the life health industry, Chengyi Pharmaceutical has gradually emerged as a leader in the silver economy race with precise market insights, full-chain layout, and policy responsiveness, providing solutions
Industry insiders believe that as the current industry dividends continue to be released, the increasingly diversified market supply will drive the transformation of the silver economy from "policy-driven" to "market-driven". The silver economy may become a new engine for high-quality development in China's economy.
Written by Huang Yanjun
Source: China News Service