Under the guidance of the Department of International Cooperation of SAMR, the proposal for an APEC project titled Standardizing Senior-Friendly Food Design: A Pathway to Innovation and Healthy Aging in APEC, submitted by the Sub-institute of Agriculture and Food of CNIS, was officially approved on November 5, 2025. 

Focusing on the common challenges of elderly nutrition improvement and food adaptation faced by regional economies, the project aims to advance the standardization pathway for senior-friendly food design and provide an internationally coordinated solution for promoting healthy aging and innovative development.

In recent years, the trend of population aging has continued to intensify in China. Major policy documents including the Healthy China 2030 Plan,the National Nutrition Plan (2017-2030), and the Opinions on Developing the Silver Economy to Enhance the Well-being of the Elderly all emphasize strengthening the R&D and supply of age-friendly food and improving the elderly,s sense of fulfillment in health. The latest statistics from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs indicate that the global proportion of people aged 65 and above in the total population may reach 14.3% by 2040, entering a stage of moderate aging.

According to the 2024 National Bulletin on the Aging Development, the number of people aged 60 and above nationwide reaches 310.31 million, accounting for 22.0% of the total population. Faced with the huge market demand, the silver economy such as age-friendly food has enormous development potential, which urgently requires policy innovation, technological innovation, and standards innovation to drive the rapid and sound development of the age-friendly food industry.

Looking ahead, CNIS will actively strengthen cooperation with all APEC member economies and relevant international organizations, leverage the fundamental role of standardization in policy implementation, industrial innovation, and public health governance, and contribute to the construction of the senior-friendly food industry system among APEC member economies.