Hong Kong retirees are moving across the border, with the number of Hong Kong residents who have retired outside the territory to the South China Greater Bay Area ( GBA ) having jumped significantly over the past decade, boosting the country’s already booming “silver economy”, or senior care-related business sector.

Data from Hong Kong’s Legislative Council shows that, at the end of 2024, almost 100,000 Hong Kong residents aged 65 or older were living in Guangdong, one of the GBA’s major metropolitian centres, representing a 40% jump in a decade. GBA cities, such as Guangzhou, Foshan and Zhongshan, have become the most popular destinations, luring retirees with lower costs, Cantonese culture and new high-speed rail links.

The influx signals strong potential for China’s silver economy. Chinese regulators estimate that, as of the end of 2024, the total market size of the silver economy had reached 7 trillion yuan, accounting for 6% of the country’s GDP. By 2035, the market is projected to reach 19.1 trillion yuan, or 9.6% of GDP; and, by 2050, it could hit 49.9 trillion yuan, a sixfold increase over that of 2024, contributing a 12.5% share of the national GDP, roughly equivalent to that projected for the real estate sector.

Support for the silver economy, which is expected to be one of the key topics of the upcoming 15th five-year plan, is already baked into policy. For example, in June this year, regulators issued guidelines urging banks to provide more credit instruments to silver economy service providers. They also called for the creation of dedicated bonds to support the silver economy.

Against this backdrop, innovation has emerged. The Shenzhen Stock Exchange has recently listed an asset-backed security that is backed by patents and data intellectual property. It is the first of its kind aimed solely at the silver economy. This 1.025-billion-yuan ( US$143.93 million ), 364-day note is secured by 71 patents and relevant data intellectual property from 14 Hangzhou tech firms. With a low coupon rate of 1.195%, it shows investors will accept razor-thin returns for policy-friendly paper.

Retail investors preparing for retirement are getting new tools, especially since the personal pension mechanism was launched. After about two years’ development, about 1,100 personal pension products are currently available on the market, mostly consisting of savings, insurance and funds.

Pension target mutual funds, almost all fund of funds ( FOFs ) or exchange-traded funds ( ETFs ), grew 36% in the first half of 2025 to 12.4 billion yuan, lifted by a rebounding A-share market and the growing demand for retirement planning. The average return of the funds during the first half of this year stands at 17%.

Furthermore, global managers are partnering with local brokers to tap the wave. Fidelity and Guosen Securities, for example, have set up a trade-and-top-up plan that sweeps a user-set amount into a Fidelity FOF every time an investor trades a stock or ETF, turning daily trades into micro-pension contributions.

On the consumption side, the central government has also backed the effort with 11.6 billion yuan in budget allocations, and 1.82 billion yuan worth of consumption vouchers have been redeemed for home care, adult day services and assisted-living deposits.

The key to developing the silver economy is to unlock the massive elderly consumer market. Labour-intensive services like nursing, rehabilitation and senior care-related social work will create jobs. Innovations in artificial intelligence, robotics and biotechnology that address ageing-related pain points will attract attention from capital markets. As policies, financial tools and products take root, the potential of China’s silver economy is expected to switch into overdrive.