On September 18, the 2026 ASEAN-Oriented Exchange Forum on AI-Empowered High-Quality Development of the Silver Economy was held at the Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Center in Guangxi, China. The event was hosted by the Department of Commerce, Development and Reform Commission, and Department of Civil Affairs of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and organized by the Beijing Jinghe Institute of Culture and Tourism Development (JICT) and the ASEAN-China Silver Economy Development Research Center (ACSEC). It was the first thematic exchange event to closely integrate innovative AI applications with the silver economy industry and to be held for ASEAN. The event brought together government representatives, academicians and experts, business association representatives, and leading enterprise representatives from China and ASEAN countries to engage in in-depth exchanges on AI-empowered high-quality development of the silver economy.
Sharing Opportunities, Building New Consensus on Silver Economy Cooperation. Currently, Guangxi's silver economy cooperation with ASEAN faces major opportunities. Lan Xiao, Vice Chairman of the People's Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, stated in his remarks that Guangxi boasts the highest number of "Longevity Towns of China" in the country and will play its role as a frontier bridgehead, deepen industrial connectivity, technological empowerment, and talent exchange, and strive to build a new highland for China-ASEAN silver economy cooperation. Tan Lip Chee, Executive Chairman of the Indonesia-China Economic, Social and Cultural Cooperation Association, pointed out that Indonesia's elderly care policies are transitioning toward "empowering the elderly to live healthy, independent, and dignified lives," and proposed cooperation initiatives from four dimensions: technology localization, two-way industrial cooperation, talent and knowledge exchange, and ASEAN regional coordination. Fan Zhou, President of the Beijing Jinghe Institute of Culture and Tourism Development (JICT), proposed that think tanks will build connecting bridges, promote the transformation of consensus into standards, standards into scenarios, and scenarios into projects, providing intellectual support for building a regional silver economy community.
Tangible Results Delivered, Embarking on a New Journey of Practical Cooperation. The event focused on building industrial hubs, mutual recognition of cross-border standards, and cross-border elderly care talent cultivation. A series of landmark achievements were released on site, promoting China-ASEAN silver economy cooperation from conceptual initiatives to practical stages of standard co-building, platform operation, and talent cultivation. At the event, JICT released the first "China-ASEAN Silver Economy Blue Book" in the region. JICT and ACSEC, together with relevant parties, launched the China-ASEAN Silver Economy Scenario Application Center, the "Silver Industry Series Standards," and the China-ASEAN Silver Industry Cross-Border Talent Cooperation Project, laying a solid foundation for the coordinated development of the regional silver industry.
Cutting-Edge Research, Unlocking New Pathways for Elderly Care Technology. Two academicians delivered keynote speeches, exploring pathways for technology to empower elderly health from the frontiers of scientific research. Chen Xiaodong, Academician of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand, shared insights on the cognition of quality of life and the protection of elderly nutrition, analyzing the supporting role of new technologies such as bionic digestive tracts in the research and development of elderly nutrition products and personalized health management. Jia Wei, Academician of the Physiology and Neuroscience Division of the European Academy of Sciences, focused on AI-driven metabolism and aging research, sharing the latest breakthroughs and cutting-edge achievements in the integration of metabolomics and AI in aging research, demonstrating the technical pathway of obtaining systemic metabolic information from a single drop of blood and achieving early disease prediction and personalized health management under AI-driven approaches.
Gathering Wisdom, Assessing New Opportunities for Industry Development. The event featured multiple sessions including speeches by industry representatives from China and ASEAN, enterprise practice sharing, and roundtable dialogues. Hao Fuqing, former Deputy Director-General and First-Level Inspector of the Department of Social Development of the National Development and Reform Commission, systematically elaborated on the development logic and future direction of the silver economy from five dimensions: major trends, major demands, major markets, major services, and major technologies. Somsak Akksilp, Executive Director of the ASEAN Centre for Active Ageing and Innovation (ACAI), introduced ACAI's practices and plans in promoting active aging policies, standard construction, and cross-border cooperation in ASEAN. Feng Zengduan, Director of Singapore Yiru Investment and Management Consulting Pte. Ltd., shared Singapore's experience in aging governance in high-density cities. Kuang Jinrong, Chairman of the Thai-Chinese Commerce Association (TCCA), stated that overseas Chinese associations will leverage their resource advantages of connecting internal and external networks, serve as two-way transmitters and project catalysts, and help Chinese AI age-friendly products and smart elderly care solutions take root in Thailand and radiate across ASEAN. In the leading enterprise case-sharing session, representatives from Chinese and foreign enterprises including DiDi Travel, Baidu Intelligent Cloud, Ping An Bank, and Malaysian elderly care institutions showcased the industrial vitality of AI age-friendly technologies moving from concept to livelihood applications, combining real cases such as senior-friendly travel, home-based AI care, eldercare robotics, silver finance, and preventive care models. In the roundtable dialogue session, guests from domestic research institutions, Laos, and Thailand gathered to conduct in-depth discussions on the future decade of silver economy development, covering market growth, business model innovation, long-term capital investment, and cross-border cooperation opportunities and challenges, providing forward-looking insights for the long-term development of the regional silver economy.
This exchange event closely aligned with the national strategies of Healthy China and actively responding to population aging, promoting exchanges and cooperation in the China-ASEAN silver economy field. JICT and ACSEC will take this event as a new starting point, fully leverage Guangxi’s bridgehead value as a frontier window for opening up and cooperation with ASEAN, and join hands with all parties to use AI as wings and cooperation as a bridge, promoting deeper standard mutual recognition, industrial connectivity, and talent exchange between China and ASEAN in the silver economy field.
