Editorial note: On the afternoon of January 18, An Yaqiang (Deputy Secretary-General of our Foundation) participated in “Charity Ceremony Caring for Empty Nesters” upon invitation, and our Foundation obtained “the Best Partner Agency for 2017” rewarded by China Social Welfare Foundation (CSWF).
Everything looks fresh at the beginning of a new year. On January 18, “Charity Ceremony Caring for Empty Nesters”, initiated by Happiness No. 9 Pension Investment Group, organized by Shandong Radio and Television Station Qilu Channel, undertaken by Shanghai Time Bank, and charitably funded by China Social Welfare Foundation (CSWF) and Lao Niu Foundation with expectation of about a million people, started in China National Convention Center as planned.
Lieutenant General Xu Yinchu (former Deputy President of Academy of Military Sciences PLA China), Tian Runzhi (former Director-General of Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau and Deputy Minister of General Administration of Customs of China), Liu Jian (former Deputy Minister of Ministry of Agriculture, former Director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, President of Board of International Poverty Reduction Center in China), Si Shujie (former Member of the Party Leadership Group of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, Deputy Chairman of China Old Liberated Area Construction Association), Qi Xuesen (President of Board of China Social Welfare Foundation), Qin Xiaoming (President of Board of China Health Care Association), Miao Ruilan (Secretary-General of China Social Welfare Foundation), Lyu Peili (Executive Director of CSWF Social Development Fund), An Yaqiang (Deputy Secretary-General of Lao Niu Foundation), Xu Huchu (President of Strategy& Greater China), Stanley Cheung (former Managing Director of Disney (Greater China), Deputy Chairman of Happiness No. 9 Advisory Board), Wang Fengqi (student of national leading authority Qin Bowei, National Prominent TCM Expert), Wu Dazhen (President of Beijing Tongji Hospital, National Prominent TCM Expert), Wang Zhen (Chairman of the Board) and Wang Lei (President) of Happiness No. 9 Pension Investment Group, and senior managers from more than 10 famous enterprises including Mengniu, Angel Yeast, Zhejiang COFCO, Shandong Dong’e Ejiao, and Tielingchuntian Pharmacy, etc. as well as Ni Ping, Zhang Yue, Zheng Xulan, Yu Junjian, Xie Fang and her husband, Deng Yuhua, Jin Lin, Yang Ziaomei and other celebrities in literary and art circles came on site and called for more people to join in caring for the elderly.
During the ceremony, nearly a hundred government leaders, experts and scholars, film and television stars, entrepreneur representatives and more than 3,000 elderly people present witnessed the formal establishment of “Happiness Special Fund for the Elderly”.
Take Love Home: Melody for Happiness Caring for the Elderly
Miao Ruilan (Secretary-General of China Social Welfare Foundation) expressed in her speech “according to statistics from the China National Committee on Aging show that China has 230 million elderly people, accounting for 16.7% of the total population. According to Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, China National Committee on Aging and other authorities, it is predicted that by 2030, the elderly population aged 60 and above will reach 370 million, over half of whom belong to empty nest families in urban and rural areas. To a certain extent, empty nest is no longer only a family grief but a practical and heavy social problem”. In the face of such a severe ageing situation, “Happiness Special Fund for the Elderly” was formally established with RMB 10 million’s support of Lao Niu Foundation and great expectations and cheers on the scene. It would unite more caring companies and people to join for caring empty nesters, call on the whole society to work together to care for the elderly and let them live happy twilight years.
Secretary-General Miao expressed her sincere recognition and appreciation for Happiness No. 9, “it is Happiness No. 9 that has been supporting this project, this is an enterprise with a high degree of social responsibility. ‘Happiness Special Fund for the Elderly’ will play an important role in improving the living and mental state of the empty nesters in our nation.”
Since establishment, Happiness No. 9 has been actively participating in philanthropic activities of
“support, help, respect, and filial piety for the elderly” and fulfilling corporate social responsibilities. From October 2013 when the founders of Happiness No. 9, Wang Zhen and Wang Lei, donated RMB 10 million to launch the “Caring for Empty Nesters Project” with CSWF Community Development Fund, helping hundreds of thousands of empty nesters in the nation to solve practical problems in their life. On this day, Happiness No. 9 cooperated with Lao Niu Foundation to donate RMB 10 million again to CSWF to establish “Happiness Alliance Love Fund for Caring the Elderly”. So far, Happiness No. 9’s way in philanthropy has been low-key but firm, providing physical and spiritual comfort to empty nesters, making their life with no loneliness but sunshine and energy.
There is no end to filial piety. “Happiness Special Fund for the Elderly” is an important upgrade and sublimation of “Caring for Empty Nesters Project”, calling on the whole society to work together and care for the elderly, pay attention and love for the upcoming ageing society, affect more people’s to care and serve the elderly around them, and actively explore new modes of public welfare and home-based care for the elderly.
Caring for the Elderly: Release of White Paper is Released
At present, the growth of the aging population in China has made elderly care a hot topic in society and gradually expanding scale of elderly care market. The great demand of the combination of massive health industry and elderly care industry has given birth to such a market with great potential. Among them, prolonged life expectancy of the population and increase in consumption have caused strong impact on traditional consumption of the elderly. Studying the consumption behavior of the elderly as well as understanding and mastering their consumer psychology will help to open this market with huge potential.
Happiness No. 9 and PWC Strategy&, the world’s leading management consulting company, jointly released 2017 White Paper on Consumption Habits of the Elderly (hereinafter referred to as White Paper) on the scene. This is the first white paper on consumer behavior of people over the age of 60 released by a world-class authoritative organization under the ageing trend. At the event, Xu Huchu (President of PWC Strategy& Greater China) and Wang Lei (President of Happiness No. 9) jointly launched the release ceremony of 2017 White Paper on Consumption Habits of the Elderly and conducted a detailed interpretation of the White Paper.
Healthy Care with Intelligence: Endless Loving Care
At the same time, experts of various industries were employed as expert consultants for “Happiness Research Institute of Healthy Care with Intelligence” to study and predict the needs of the elderly to develop and lead technologies and programs to solves their problems, hoping to serve all the elderly in the world, train professional talents demanded by the society, and conduct R & D for products and services compiling with the concept of “Healthy Care with Wisdom”. They will make use of new technologies like information, the Internet, AI, and big data, and take wearable integrated machine, physiotherapy experience and other professional intelligence diagnostic instruments and methods to help the elderly perform a full range of intelligent physical examination and health monitoring & diagnosis, provide correspondingly health management solutions for their health files and disease types, and bring more professional, standardized, market-oriented and precise new models to truly make parents happy, children assured, and governments relieved!
With a Dream in Mind: to Co-Compose the Melody of Love
Famous performing artist Ni Ping, Zhang Yue, Zheng Xulan, Yu Junjian, Xie Fang and her husband, Deng Yuhua, Jin Lin and other stars & celebrities at different ages stood on the stage for the same reason and comforted lonely hearts with the power of music. Every music note on the scene of the ceremony echoed in the hearts of the families of Happiness No. 9 – this was symphony of love.
Last but not least, Wang Zhen, Chairman of the Board of Happiness No. 9 set off the culmination of the charity ceremony with his wonderful speech Happy Elderly, Happy China. “To build an agency with the most elderly people taken care of in the world” was Wang Zhen’s dream, and he hoped that Happiness No. 9 could be a home for the elderly and all the elderly could enjoy a happy twilight life. He believed that elderly care was still huge social endeavor, and elderly care industry in China still remained at the 10% of “caring for the elderly” stage while the other 90% of “caring for the elderly-to-be” part was completely blank. Learning foreign elderly care models could not solve China’s problems as China has dual problems including “aging before prosperity” and “aging before preparation”; meanwhile, the weakened family support function made it easier for the elderly to be impacted physically and psychologically. It could be imagined that caring for the elderly-to-be was an irresistible trend and would surely be the future development path for China’s elderly care industry!
“2018 Charity Ceremony Caring for Empty Nesters” ended successfully in a warm applause. Charity is the truest happiness that human can appreciate, and the end of a charity ceremony is the beginning of another tour of love. Passing love home, Happiness No. 9 will continue to pass on filial piety culture with all sectors of society to create a happy and healthy twilight life for the elderly!
Reprinted from: CSWF Community Development Fund
