For more than a decade, Li Dongmei operated a series of kindergartens and schools for young children, withstanding the realities of China’s declining birthrate. She finally faced the music in 2020.

李冬梅（音）曾顶住中国出生率下降的现实，十多年来接连经营了几家幼儿园和幼儿学校。她终于在2020年接受了现实。

The shrinking number of children meant ever smaller enrollments of babies and toddlers at her schools. The social and economic ruptures of the Covid-19 pandemic were the breaking point, and she shifted her focus to a different and more abundant set of pupils: the elderly.

儿童数量的减少意味着她学校的婴儿和幼儿入学人数减少。新冠疫情带来的社会和经济断裂让这个问题达到顶点，迫使她把重点转向了另一个人数更多的学生群体：老年人。

At her education center in Jinan, a city in eastern China, she now offers singing, dancing, music and art classes for seniors. She organizes activities and educational trips for her students. Unlike schoolchildren who have summer and winter holidays, Ms. Li said, older people take classes all year round. And the classes are full.

在她位于中国东部城市济南的教育中心，她现在为老年人开办歌唱、舞蹈、音乐和艺术课程。她为她的学生们组织活动和教育旅行。李女士说，与要放寒暑假的学龄儿童不同，老年人全年都在上课。而且每个课程都满员。

“The biggest economy is the silver economy,” said Ms. Li, 36. “It is bigger than the children’s market.”

“最大的经济是银发经济，”36岁的李女士说。“这个市场比儿童市场更大。”

China’s aging society is expected to deplete the vigor and vitality of the world’s second-largest economy in the coming decades. But the adverse effects of demographic change are already apparent for Chinese businesses that cater to children. Many are scaling back operations or changing course.

中国社会的老龄化预计将在未来几十年使世界这个第二大经济体失去活力。但人口结构变化的不利影响对面向儿童的中国企业来说已经很明显。许多这些企业正在缩减业务或改变方向。

李冬梅（音，图右）曾接连经营过几家幼儿园和幼儿学校。“最大的经济是银发经济，”现年36岁的李女士说。“这个市场比儿童的市场更大。”

Dairy companies that produced formula for China’s infants are now developing powdered milks for seniors. Proprietors of preschools and kindergartens are closing those facilities to start senior care centers. A technology firm that made devices for parents to track their young children is now designing products allowing grown children to keep tabs on their aging mothers and fathers.

为中国婴儿生产配方奶粉的乳制品公司现在正在为老年人研制奶粉。曾经营幼儿园和学前班的业主们正在关闭设施，改为开办老年护理中心。一家曾为父母制造跟踪年幼孩子的设备的科技公司，现在正在设计让成年子女能密切关注年迈父母的产品。

In 2022, China’s population shrank for the first time since 1961. Deaths outnumbered births again last year, and the number of 60-year-olds topped 290 million, or one in every five Chinese people. China’s National Health Commission estimates that the country’s elderly population will grow to more than 400 million by around 2035.

2022年，中国人口自1961年以来首次出现了萎缩。去年的死亡人数再次超过了出生人数，60岁及以上的老年人口超过了 2.9亿，占到了中国人口的20%。据中国国家卫生健康委员会估计，中国的老年人口将在2035年前后增长到4亿多。

To address its aging population, China announced on Friday that it had approved a plan to raise the country’s statutory retirement age for the first time since the 1950s.

为应对人口老龄化的问题，中国已在上周五宣布批准了提高法定退休年龄的计划，这是自20世纪50年代以来第一次提高退休年龄。

China has tried for years to stave off its demographic crisis. It fully lifted its one-child policy in 2016 and offered a range of incentives to encourage people to have more children. But the country’s recent economic troubles have given young people more reason to question whether they can afford bigger families.

中国近年来已在试图避免人口危机。2016年，中国全面取消了独生子女政策，并提出了一系列鼓励人们多生孩子的激励措施。但中国最近的经济困境让年轻人有更多理由担心他们能否负担得起更大的家庭。

One concern is that fewer babies will lead to a smaller labor force that will whittle away at tax revenue and add stress to health care and pensions.

一个担心是，婴儿数量减少会导致劳动力减少，从而削弱政府的税收收入，增加医保和养老金的压力。

In a 2021 directive, China’s State Council, or cabinet, called for “actively fostering the silver economy” and developing “elderly-friendly industries.”

中国国务院在2021年的一份指导意见中呼吁“积极培育银发经济”，发展“老年友好型社会”。

Ms. Li, the education executive who has shut her schools for children, now offers a variety of classes for senior, including one on how to strut like fashion models on the catwalk. Ms. Li said she teaches her students how to become online influencers with lessons on creating short videos.

曾经营幼儿教育、后来关闭那些学校的李女士现在为老年人提供各种课程，包括如何像时装模特那样走T台。李女士说，她还开设了制作短视频的课程，教学生们如何当网红。

Also eyeing older customers, Xinjiang Tianrun Dairy, a state-owned company, acquired a smaller rival last year to focus on creating powdered milk for middle-aged and elderly consumers.

国有企业新疆天润乳业为将重点转向为中老年消费者生产奶粉，去年收购了一家规模较小的竞争对手。

Nestlé, the Swiss food and beverage maker, cited the sharp decline in births in China last year when it announced plans to close its infant formula factory in Ireland. It and Chinese dairy firms have introduced special powdered milk products with health benefits for seniors including preventing muscle atrophy, improving sleep and helping digestion.

瑞士食品和饮料制造商雀巢去年宣布关闭在爱尔兰的婴儿配方奶粉厂时，给出的理由包括中国的出生率急剧下降。雀巢和中国的乳制品企业已推出了有益于老年人健康的特制奶粉产品，包括防止肌肉萎缩、改善睡眠和帮助消化。

A leading Chinese dairy company, Yili Group, is promoting its products for seniors through television commercials. In one, a young couple buys specialized powdered milk — without cane sugar — as a gift for relatives at Chinese New Year.

中国主要的乳制品企业伊利集团正在通过电视广告推销其针对老年人的产品。在一则广告中，一对年轻夫妇购买了不含蔗糖的特制奶粉，作为春节礼物送给亲戚。

张友岚（音）曾是一名幼儿园教师，现在一家养老院教唱歌。自2018年以来，中国养老机构的数量翻了了一番。

It’s not just milk. The Chinese cybersecurity firm 360 Security Technology since 2013 has been making smartwatches for kids that allow parents to contact their children and monitor their whereabouts and internet use.

不仅是牛奶。中国网络安全公司360安全科技自2013年以来一直为儿童生产智能手表，让父母能联系孩子，跟踪他们的行踪和互联网使用情况。

In 2019, citing “the advent of an aging society,” the company introduced smartwatches for seniors with features such as blood pressure and heart rate monitors, location tracking for concerned family members and one-click emergency calling.

2019年，这家公司推出老年人智能手表时给的理由是“老龄化社会已经到来”，这种智能手表有血压和心率监测、让担心老人的家庭成员追踪老人的位置，以及一键紧急呼叫等功能。

The size of the growing seniors market is forcing the hand of Chinese companies that once targeted children and their parents, said He-Ling Shi, an associate economics professor at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

澳大利亚墨尔本莫纳什大学的经济学副教授史鹤凌说，老年人市场的规模不断增长，迫使曾经以儿童及其父母为消费对象的中国公司行动起来。

“They have no choice,” he said.

“它们别无选择，”他说。

Births in China fell to nine million in 2023, down about 6 percent from the previous year. And the number of preschool children plummeted nearly 12 percent, according to China’s Ministry of Education.

2023年，中国的出生人口下降到了900万，比上一年降低了约6%。据中国的教育部，学龄前儿童数量骤降了近12%。

Last year Zhang Youlan responded to a job posting for a kindergarten teacher in Xi’an, a city in central China. When she showed up for an interview, the facility was not a kindergarten. It was a nursing home.

去年，张友岚（音）应聘了西安一条招聘幼儿园教师的广告。她去面试时发现，那家机构并不是幼儿园，而是养老院。

Ms. Zhang, a former kindergarten teacher, said she was told that the position had been advertised that way because many of the responsibilities are the same. She said her new job is similar to her old one: She leads a class in singing and dancing and teaches arts and crafts. She sends pictures of her students eating lunch to their guardians, usually their grown children.

张女士曾是一名幼儿园教师，她被告知，之所以将招聘的职位描述为幼儿园教师，是因为很多职责是一样的。她说，她的新工作与以前的工作相似：她负责带一个唱歌跳舞班，还教授手工艺。她把学生吃午饭的照片发给他们的监护人，通常是他们的成年子女。

Ms. Zhang said she had noticed that kindergartens were shutting down. More than 20,000 closed in China in 2022 and 2023, according to China’s Ministry of Education, with the ranks of kindergarten teachers declining 5 percent last year.

张女士说，她已注意到幼儿园正在关门。据中国教育部的数据，中国有2万多所幼儿园在2022年和2023年关门，从事幼儿教育的人数去年下降了5%。

By contrast, the senior care sector is booming. The number of elderly care facilities in China has doubled since 2018.

相比之下，老年护理行业正在蓬勃发展。自2018年以来，中国的养老机构数量已翻了一番。

“It has a better future than kindergarten,” Ms. Zhang said. “There are more and more elderly people and fewer and fewer children.”

“养老院的前景比幼儿园好，”张女士说。“老人越来越多，孩子越来越少。”

Cai Hao opened a maternity and baby goods store in 2018 in Shijiazhuang, a city in China’s northern Hebei Province. His store initially carried clothes and footwear, for infants and toddlers.

蔡浩（音）2018年在石家庄开了一家母婴用品店。他的店最初经营的是婴幼儿服装和鞋类。

A surge of newborns in the years after China adopted a two-child policy soon fizzled out, and the pandemic hurt foot traffic into the store.

中国实施二胎政策后的几年里，新生儿数量一度激增，但很快就不再增长。新冠疫情也影响了来店购物的客流。

“There were no customers,” Mr. Cai said. “Without children, customers had no reason to shop here.”

“顾客没有了，”蔡先生说。“没有孩子，顾客就没有理由来这里买东西。”

Then a few years ago, customers started to ask whether his store carried powdered milk for older people. Figuring he didn’t have much to lose, Mr. Cai began to stock it. Sales grew so he added different varieties including one for diabetics and another for people with hypertension.

几年前，开始有顾客询问他的店里是否有老年人奶粉。蔡先生觉得进点也没啥，于是开始备货。老年人奶粉的销量不错，于是他增加了不同的品种，包括适合糖尿病患者的和适合高血压患者。

Mr. Cai said that he never made a strategic decision to start targeting older customers, but that about 10 percent of his sales now come from dairy products for seniors.

蔡先生说，他从未做出过要针对老年客户的战略决定，但他现在约10%的销售来自老年人乳制品。

He added, “Who wouldn’t be willing to sell more if they could?”

他还说：“谁不想能多卖点呢？”

随着中国的老年人口预计将在2035年前后增长到4亿以上，企业正在将重点转向老年消费者。