Entrepreneur helps Silvers 'log on' in China

by Kim Walker 04 September 2009 09:20:11

Pinetree in China aims to provide a one-stop shop for seniors to provide products and services in health, travel, home and finance to senior citizens.

With a passion for social responsibility, and the desire to bring a better life to her ageing parents, Ninie Wang, a China-born entrepreneur, set up an organisation called Pinetree in 2004.Ninie Wang

"The Chinese government has made it very clear that the responsibility of taking care of and providing for the aged will (go) to the private sector ... We are now in a great time to develop the grey-haired market," says Wang.

The first order of business was to help make technology and the internet both accessible and fun for these seniors. China continues to lag behind in this area; only six per cent of those above the age of 50 are computer-literate, a stark contrast to its Western counterparts where internet usage can be as high as 70 per cent in Europe and the US.

The competency level Pinetree aims for ranges from basic computer skills like browsing the internet, using search engines, sending and receiving emails, to more complicated tasks like conducting online video chats.

To widen its reach, Pinetree has also partnered with the Beijing Community Services portal to make the programme available to 2,000 grassroot communities in the Chinese capital through its network of regional district management organisations in the city.

Other partnerships include the Gerontological Society of China, the China National Committee on Ageing, and the Chinese Association for the Promotion of Cultural Exchange.

This kind of outreach will inevitably expand Pinetree's market base, which Wang says can then support commercial online platforms promoting lifestyle products targeted at that same elderly segment.

Can't find her website though! Maybe only in Chinese?