The rise of the silver haired economy paints a new picture of "aging friendly" consumption

Under the wave of global population aging, the cross-border demand for aging friendly products, rehabilitation equipment, smart elderly care devices and other commodities has surged, and the potential of the silver haired economy market is constantly being released, becoming a new growth point for foreign trade. In this context, the precise measures taken by the customs not only help "silver hair" products connect with the international supply chain, but also inject momentum into Chinese enterprises to shine in the global silver hair industry competition.
Reduce cross-border logistics costs for elderly friendly products
Recently, a "silver haired train" loaded with elderly friendly products such as wheelchairs, toilet seats, rehabilitation robots, blood pressure monitors, sleep ventilators, etc., was supervised by the Zengcheng Customs under the jurisdiction of Huangpu Customs. It departed from Zengcheng West Station in Guangzhou and is expected to arrive in the European market in 15 days.
In recent years, domestic elderly friendly products have continuously innovated in design concepts and categories, from basic tools for assisting actions to intelligent devices for sleep monitoring, and then to puzzle toys designed for the elderly. New "silver hair" products such as sleep ventilators, bath aids, cushioned insoles, and mobile assistive robots are widely popular in the international market. These diverse and intelligent elderly friendly products are quietly integrating into various scenes of the daily lives of the elderly.
By transporting aging products through the China Europe freight train, there are significant advantages in terms of timeliness compared to traditional sea freight, and the cost is much lower than air freight, providing more competitive logistics options for enterprises to expand overseas markets, "said Li Siqiang, the head of the train business at Guangzhou Jiaotou International Freight Train Operation Management Co., Ltd. A stable international railway logistics channel enables enterprises in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area to respond more agilely to changes in the international market and seize opportunities for silver haired economic growth.  
To support the smooth expansion of "silver hair" products into the international market, Zengcheng Customs has opened a dedicated window to tailor customs clearance supervision plans for enterprises, providing full chain tracking services from declaration, inspection to release. At the same time, by establishing an efficient collaborative mechanism, we can grasp the shipping plan of the "Silver Hair Train" in advance, and comprehensively use convenient measures such as "appointment clearance" and "early declaration" to achieve immediate inspection and release of goods upon arrival, effectively reducing the time spent at the port.  
According to statistics, in the first 11 months of 2025, under the supervision of Zengcheng Customs, the value of various elderly friendly products such as wheelchairs, blood pressure monitors, and walking aids shipped and exported by the Zengcheng West Station international train reached 10.5 million yuan.  
Recently, on the production line of Jiangsu Taicang Meilichi Medical Equipment (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Meilichi"), a batch of electric wheelchairs designed specifically for the elderly are undergoing final testing and are about to be packed and shipped overseas. Ms. Qian, the person in charge of customs affairs of the company, introduced: "In the first 11 months of 2025, the company's wheelchair exports amounted to about 32.86 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of about 23.5%. Among them, electric wheelchairs with characteristics such as slow speed and easy operation that are suitable for aging are increasingly gaining favor in countries such as Belgium and Argentina
As a company specializing in the research and production of manual and electric wheelchairs, Meritor has been innovating its products in recent years to meet the practical needs of the elderly. Its electric wheelchair products place particular emphasis on safety and ease of use, aiming to provide reliable and convenient travel support for elderly people with limited mobility.  
In response to the logistics demand for wheelchair product exports, Taicang Customs, a subsidiary of Nanjing Customs, actively guides enterprises to adopt a new model of "linkage unloading". After the goods are loaded onto the ship at Taicang Port, they are transferred by a dedicated barge to Yangshan Port in Shanghai and directly loaded onto an ocean going cargo ship for departure, eliminating the need for customs declaration and secondary arrival procedures. Compared to traditional road transportation, this model saves enterprises about 50% of shipping costs and effectively reduces cross-border logistics costs.  
Customs continuously optimizes customs clearance facilitation measures, reducing the cost of goods clearance while providing stable and efficient logistics support for the extension and expansion of the silver economy industry chain, enabling Chinese made "silver hair" products to better serve the global market.  
Improve the policy and service of medical devices
Laser cutting, welding, polishing, shot blasting and rust removal... Recently, in the production workshop of Mount Huangshan Jinfu Medical Instrument Co., Ltd., workers are working hard to process a batch of electric multi-function physiotherapy beds exported to Australia.  
At present, the global aging trend is intensifying, and the demand for medical equipment in large and medium-sized hospitals, sanatoriums, nursing homes, and other institutions is increasing day by day. Electric multifunctional therapy bed is an auxiliary treatment device designed specifically for the elderly or people with limited mobility, which can enhance the convenience and comfort of treatment and care. It is suitable for multidisciplinary fields such as traditional Chinese medicine, rehabilitation medicine, and sports medicine.  
"In recent years, overseas customers have continued to increase orders. In order to expand production capacity and meet market demand, the company has invested 80 million yuan to start the intelligent biological medical device manufacturing project. Four new plants have been built, which is expected to increase production capacity by 30% after all are put into production, with an annual output of 25000 sets of electric physiotherapy beds." Ye Ruiquan, deputy general manager of Mount Huangshan Jinfu Medical Devices Co., Ltd., introduced.  
In order to ensure the smooth export of electric multi-function physiotherapy beds and other products overseas, Mount Huangshan Customs, affiliated to Hefei Customs, accurately enabled enterprises to enjoy preferential policies of origin. By sorting out the leading export products of enterprises, we made clear the types of certificates and tax reductions that can be applied for for each type of product, so that dividends could fall from "paper" to "book". At the same time, in response to issues such as unclear understanding of the rules of origin by enterprises, mechanisms such as "the customs chief delivers policies to the door" and "face-to-face with customs enterprises" are used to provide enterprises with answers to policies such as cumulative origin, small content, and changes in tariff classification, and to provide "one-on-one" guidance and standardized reporting services. In addition, the customs will comprehensively promote the "paperless declaration+intelligent review+self-service printing" origin approval mode, establish a daily clearance mechanism, practice 24-hour appointment approval, achieve "zero waiting" for application, and effectively reduce the comprehensive cost of enterprises.  
"Mount Huangshan Customs actively answers the difficult problems encountered in the export process, guides us to apply for the China Australia certificate of origin, and the tariff reduction brought by the certificate of origin directly translates into the competitive advantage of" real gold and silver "," said Ye Ruiquan.  
With the booming development of related industries such as elderly care facilities and rehabilitation aids, the demand for imported related equipment and materials in China is also increasing day by day. Recently, a batch of medical angiography X-ray machines worth 2.95 million yuan were successfully put into use in local hospitals after passing inspection by Huangdao Customs officers under Qingdao Customs.  
We are very concerned that the dismantling and inspection of large medical equipment at ports may cause equipment damage or affect later installation and commissioning, "said Sun Chengyan, the director of Qingdao Yibo Hospital Co., Ltd.  
In response to the high value and environmental sensitivity of medical equipment, Huangdao Customs has tailored an inspection plan and innovatively implemented a "port local" linkage mechanism to transfer goods to the destination for "one-stop" inspection. Business experts are dispatched to the hospital before the equipment arrives, ensuring that the goods are inspected upon arrival, effectively solving the dual problems of clearance efficiency and quality assurance for large medical equipment.  
We analyze and assess the risks and difficulties of goods supervision in advance, improve inspection efficiency by implementing differentiated inspections, and use the intelligent customs network verification function to conduct medical device certificate verification in advance, reducing the overall clearance time of related equipment by about 85%. At the same time, we also continuously track and inspect the operation status of imported equipment, providing reliable guarantee for the prompt use of imported medical equipment, "said Yang Ce, head of the Inspection Department 6 of Huangdao Customs Inspection Division 2.  
In addition, Huangdao Customs actively implements various national tax preferential policies, supporting the import of equipment and materials required for the construction of silver haired economic projects such as elderly care service facilities and rehabilitation aids to enjoy tax reduction and exemption policy dividends, reduce enterprise costs, and promote the development of related industries. In the first 11 months of 2025, Huangdao Customs supervised the import of various medical instruments and devices worth 370 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.7%.  
Enhance the compliance level of enterprises' overseas trade
In Ningbo Tianyi Medical Industrial Park, automated equipment precision processes various medical pipeline products. The production line achieves closed conveying through a centralized feeding system, visual inspection and mechanical arm cooperation, and real-time automatic removal of non-conforming products, ensuring stable and reliable product quality throughout the process. These products can be flexibly applied to elderly medical and health care scenarios such as nutrition delivery and respiratory support.  
As a national level specialized and innovative "little giant" enterprise, Ningbo Tianyi Medical Industry Park adheres to the manufacturing standards of digitization, cleanliness, and precision, and its products have been widely recognized in the international market. With the rise of the global silver economy and the increasing demand for health, medical device exports have ushered in new growth opportunities.  
In order to assist Ningbo medical device enterprises in exploring overseas markets, Ningbo Customs has established a "friendly and clear direct train, enterprise needs and customs response" mechanism to assist enterprise development. Through forms such as "customs officials delivering policies to the door" and policy lectures, it interprets policy points such as export certification and classification declaration for enterprises, continuously collects warning information on technical trade measures related to medical devices, assists enterprises in adapting to foreign technical regulations and quality standards, and helps enterprises comply with overseas regulations.  
As an important sub sector for foreign trade growth, Ningbo medical device enterprises have shown a trend of 'increasing quantity and improving quality' in exports through technological innovation, category expansion, and global channel expansion, "said the relevant person in charge of Yinzhou Customs under Ningbo Customs. In the first 11 months of 2025, Ningbo exported medical instruments and equipment worth 4.58 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.5%.  
Home health and medical equipment, as an important tool for home health management, is increasingly favored by overseas markets, especially middle-aged and elderly groups. Recently, in the production workshop of Qingdao Yasi Medical Equipment Co., Ltd., workers are vigorously engaged in the production of multifunctional testers. After the assembly of accessories, product testing, and packaging of finished products, a batch of YS-911D multifunctional blood pressure, blood glucose, uric acid, and blood ketone testers will be sent to overseas markets such as Indonesia, India, and the United Arab Emirates after passing the inspection and supervision of Qingdao Dagang Customs under Qingdao Customs.  
Our independently developed YS-911D product can complete the detection of four key indicators: blood pressure, blood glucose, uric acid, and blood ketones within 3 minutes. It is easy to operate and the results are accurate, making it very suitable for elderly health management. ”Since 2025, our overseas orders have continued to climb, and our production lines have been operating at full capacity. In the first 11 months, our export volume reached 7 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 35%, "said Song Xianglong, manager of Qingdao Yasi Medical Equipment Co., Ltd
To help health and medical equipment go global while they are still hot, Qingdao Dagang Customs continues to make efforts in intellectual property customs protection, actively providing guidance on intellectual property compliance, offering customized consulting services for common infringement risk points in the industry, and guiding enterprises to standardize the use of trademarks, patents, and other rights.  
In addition, Qingdao Dagang Customs fully leverages its local regulatory advantages, accurately locates the needs of production enterprises, and strictly controls the quality of exported products. We clarify the safety certification, technical standards, environmental directives, and other access requirements for health and medical equipment in different countries through information collection and regulatory research, tailor exclusive compliance solutions, and provide solid support for enterprises to expand their international markets, "said Zhang Hongjie, head of the Inspection and Quarantine Department of Qingdao Dagang Customs.  
In the first 11 months of 2025, Shandong Province exported various types of health and medical equipment worth 3.16 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.1%.  
(Correspondents Chen Gefei, Guo Ting, Hu Jian, Wang Dezheng, He Weiwei, Wang Xiaomeng, Li Lin)