China Pacific Insurance Group, one of the largest insurance groups in China, has decided to branch out into the senior living business, lured by the huge size of the Chinese eldercare market.

The insurance group plans to invest CNY10bn ($1.5bn) to build geriatric-assisted communities in major Chinese cities over the next three to five years, reports Yicai Global.

The Shanghai-based insurer has unveiled its senior housing business strategy, by which it proposes to develop premium housing projects dubbed “Pacific Insurance Homes” for seniors in major cities across the country.

As a key component of its initiative, the firm will shift toward a new business model integrating “exclusive insurance products, high-end eldercare communities and high-quality professional services”.

The company has mapped out three product lines according to the structural features of China’s senior population and market segmentation: rehabilitation-focused urban nursing products targeting people aged above 80; healthcare-oriented products in suburban areas intended for middle-old consumers (namely people aged between 70 and 79); and migratory holiday products targeting the young-old.

China Pacific Insurance will geographically arrange the senior housing communities focusing on the group’s core insurance markets: central city clusters in the Pearl River Economic Delta, and cities with a higher proportion of the aged in their population. The firm has settled on several project sites in Chengdu, Wuhan, Shanghai and Yunnan.

About 241 million Chinese people were aged over 60 last year, statistics show, or 17.3% of the overall population.

Formed in 1991, China Pacific Insurane entered the retirement business in 2009 when it acquired Changjiang Pension Insurance.