NEW YORK: Private investors seeking to profit from the recent opening up of China’s aged care facilities are calling for an even playing field.
Since China’s State Council announced measures to open up the country’s aged care sector to private capital investment in September 2013, there was a flurry of policies aimed at encouraging investment in such facilities.
However, the public and private system operate according to different rules and this is posing problems for private investors.
Investors say that the position of private institutions is unclear and that they’re having difficulty in making profits and will have trouble continuing to operate.
China’s consultative delegates are saying that during the process of developing the aged care industry, policies must ‘treat all players equally’.
“Currently it’s very difficult for private capital to invest in the aged care industry”, according to Dai Hao, the chairman of Hezhong Life Insurance and CPPCC delegate.
Dai also noted that “as the market still needs more awareness, the rate of occupancy is not high enough and the operations of privately run aged care facilities are under extreme pressure.”