American firm builds 100 million USD retirement home in N. China

An American company has begun the construction of a 100 million U.S. dollar retirement home in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The project, in the region's second largest city of Baotou, will be accommodate 4,000 retirees when it is completed in two years and will be the largest retirement home in west China.

The home is being built jointly by American health care company Sunnylife Global Inc. and Chinese medical firm Baotou Xintexin Ecological Garden, which has provided 82 acres of land.

It will be managed by the two firms for 50 years before Baotou Xintexin Ecological Garden gains sole ownership.

The center will also provide medical, entertainment and business services for those aged over 60, said Wei Guo, general manager of Baotou Xintexin Ecological Garden.

Residents will pay 500 yuan (62.5 U.S. dollars) a month to enjoy basic services. Those who pay over 1000 yuan a month will have access to better facilities, said Wei.

The number of Chinese over 60 years old has reached 143 million, 11 percent of the country's total population, said Tang Jun, a sociology professor at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Some 32.5 million of them need long-term care, added Tang.

Foreign investment is pouring into China to build retirement homes for the growing aging population in a bid to cash on the huge business opportunities.

Germany's largest social service provider Augustinum plans to invest 940 million yuan (117.5 million U.S. dollars) in a retirement home in Shanghai. It also plans to build residential buildings for retirees in Xiaotangshan, a recreation center in the northern suburbs of Beijing.

Source: Xinhua