经济学人下载:中国人口老化

Demography
人口统计

Getting on
人口老化

The consequences of an ageing population
人口老龄化的苦果

Jun 23rd 2011 | from the print edition

THE CLIENTELE OF the Le Amor retirement home in the Fragrant Hills of western Beijing are no ordinary folk. Staff boast that one of them taught President Hu Jintao when he was at university. Another is the descendant of a nutritionist who worked for the Empress Dowager Cixi, China’s last great imperial ruler. A third is a former senior official in the party’s top anti-corruption body. By the grim standards of such homes in China, it seems they are being treated well. If they wish, they can rent a suite of rooms, including one for a live-in servant. All rooms have an emergency button.

住在北京西郊香山Le Amor退休公寓里的住户都不是平民百姓。那里的员工自夸退休公寓里的其中一位住户曾经是胡锦涛在大学里的老师。还有一个住户是以前为中国最后一个重量级的帝国统治者——慈禧太后掌厨的御厨的后代。另外，三分之一的共产党最高纪委机构的前高级官员们。从中国的此类住宅的严格规格来看，这些退休干部似乎养尊处优。如果他们想要的话，他们可以租上一套房间，包括一间让寄宿保姆住下的房间。所有房间中都有一个紧急按钮。

The home’s director is coy about how she secured such a desirable rural location for her $10m venture, +away from the city’s downtown smog. Le Amor is one of only a handful of privately run retirement homes in the capital aimed at the well-to-do. Looking after the elderly is a business in its infancy in China, where that task usually falls to the offspring, if any. But Le Amor’s market has very attractive prospects.

Le Amor退休公寓的总裁透露了她为什么要在这个远离城市喧嚣胀气的宜人乡间建立她耗资1000万美元的养老公司。在北京仅有的少数针对富人建立的私营养老院中，Le Amor是其中之一。在养老重担全由子女承担的中国，如果有养老业这个行业的话，它也只是刚刚起步。然而，Le Amor的市场拥有十分诱人的前景。