Major “AI+Elderly Care” project forging a new engine for the silver economy in China.
According to an iResearch report, as at the end of 2024, China’s population aged 60 and above has exceeded 310 million, accounting for 22.0% of the total population.
Sun Qi, Founder and Executive Director, Voicecomm Technology Co. Ltd., said: “China is accelerating into a phase of deep aging, and the needs of hundreds of millions of elderly people constitute a vast blue ocean. Faced with the challenges of an aging society today, we aim to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) technology to explore a new, scientifically driven path for elderly care.”
The recent bid for the “South Sichuan Intelligent Valley AI Vertical Large Model Innovation Platform (川南智谷人工智能垂直大模型創新平台) – Silver Economy Construction and Operation Project” in Neijiang City, Sichuan Province has been awarded to Voicecomm Technology Co. Ltd.
The total contract value is close to RMB300 million, including approximately RMB150 million for the initial platform construction costs; and approximately RMB140 million for medium- to long-term project operation costs.
As the first city-level AI elderly care project, this signals a new trend in the Chinese government’s investment towards smart elderly care — shifting from infrastructure construction to pursuing effective operational services.
This project is expected to become a powerful engine for activating the silver economy in Neijiang City. Guided by national Smart Elderly Care policies, the project is anticipated to drive an annual output value exceeding 1 billion RMB in the local elderly care service industry and create a large number of job opportunities.
By establishing a unified smart health and elderly care service platform, the project will strive to build a “15-minute elderly care service circle,” achieving deep integration between technology and people’s livelihoods.
The Neijiang project is the company’s first demo project in the healthcare sector. Sun emphasized: “Its core lies not in stacking hardware but in using AI as the engine to make elderly care services truly intelligent and smooth, thereby enhancing the quality of life and dignity of the elderly. We hope to build this project into a replicable model for more cities to learn from.”