Gray spending 'to hit $2t in 20 years'

Spending by seniors will exceed 13 trillion yuan ($2.14 trillion) in 20 years when the country's elderly population will double from today's 200 million, Bao Xuequan, vice-president of the China National Committee on Aging, said on Tuesday.

Expenditure by the elderly reached 1 trillion yuan in 2010, he said.

The growing number has created enormous business opportunity for service and product providers to the elderly, he said at a news conference in Beijing.

The China International Silver Industry Exhibition, a fair dedicated to boosting the development of industries serving the elderly, will be held in Guangzhou from July 3 to 5.

The China Silver Industry Association, China Poly Group Corp and the Guangdong Provincial Committee on Aging will jointly hold the three-day exhibition.

About 350 companies and organizations, including 100 from overseas, are expected to attend the fair, said the exhibition's organizing committee.