China's new entrepreneurs seek wealth through health

BEIJING - China's new generation of entrepreneurs are using their business acumen to bring some basic, but essential, industries up to date.

Li Feng, a former partner at IDG Capital Partners, believes the best entrepreneurs will play a bigger role in the next decade in tackling social problems.

"There is a clear spiritual component in the mindset of these young entrepreneurs, especially those born in the 1980s and 1990s. This was missing in the previous generation who cashed in on the real estate market," said Li.

Elderly happiness

More than 15 percent of Chinese people are over 60 years old. By 2050, there could be as many as 400 million elderly people in China, accounting for one third of the population.

Wang Zhen, 31, and his younger brother Wang Lei, 29, see a silver-haired lining to these statistics: a huge market for care and other services for the aging population. Their medical equipment business, VACN Investment Group was established in 2005, and after almost ten years of success, the brothers feel ready to scale up their business and move online.

In July 2014, they launched the No 9 Happiness online shop, China's first online store catering specifically for the elderly. They made 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) on their first day -- double the amount made by JD.com, one of China's largest online retailers, in its first year.

VACN has 4,000 distribution outlets in more than 100 cities. Some offer after-sales services for the online business while others support community nursing and care workers.

In July last year, the brothers plowed the profits from the online operation into the No 9 Happiness Entertainment Park. The parks now have 1.7 million members all across China.

These "Disneylands for the elderly" are daycare centers that organize physical therapy, dance lessons, singing groups and other activities like painting, chess and English lessons for paying members.

"In the next three years, we hope to provide free lunches for all our members," said Wang Zhen, who dropped out of school in the fourth grade.

No 9 Happiness is a technology-driven institution, according to Wang Zhen. The brothers recruited Li Daxue, former head of R&D at JD.com, earlier this year as chief technology officer. He has been tasked with big data architecture.