Global Dementia Conference Set for Beijing

China is grappling with a significant and rapidly growing dementia crisis, with around 15 million people currently affected, a figure projected to surge to between 66 million and 100 million by 2050. This represents approximately 30% of the world's dementia patients, a number greater than the United States and Europe combined. The surge is attributed to a quickly aging population; by the end of 2024, China had 310 million people aged 60 and over, a demographic expected to exceed 400 million by 2035. In response, the Chinese government has launched ambitious national strategies, including the "China Brain Project" initiated in 2021 and a comprehensive dementia action plan released by 15 government bodies in early 2025. A key goal is to establish a complete prevention and control system by 2030, covering everything from screening and diagnosis to treatment and long-term care. The plan aims to increase public awareness to 80% and train 15 million dementia caregivers by 2030. The country is heavily investing in technology to manage this challenge, promoting the use of AI, brain-computer interfaces, and robotics in elderly care. This "silver economy" is projected to be worth over 30 trillion yuan ($4.3 trillion) by 2035. Chinese tech giants like Ant Group, Baidu, and others are actively developing AI-powered healthcare apps and services to meet the growing demand. Ant Group's "Ant Afu" app, for instance, has already surpassed 15 million monthly active users. This national push extends to research, where China is rapidly increasing its output of dementia-related scientific papers, now ranking second globally with over 8,000 publications. The number of Alzheimer's clinical trials in the country jumped from just 9 in 2021 to 107 in 2024. This research and technology drive is part of China's broader "Health Silk Road" strategy, which positions the nation as a significant and influential player in global health governance and technology. On the international standards front, there is a global push for interoperability in digital health. Organizations like ISO, IEEE, and the ITU are developing frameworks for AI in healthcare, focusing on risk management (ISO/IEC 23894), foundational terminology (ISO/IEC 22989), and ethical guidelines (IEEE P7000 series). The ITU and WHO have collaborated on a Focus Group for AI for Health to create benchmarking frameworks, ensuring solutions are safe and effective. The development of standards for exchanging electronic health information, such as HL7 and DICOM, is crucial for integrating these new technologies across different systems and borders. These standards enable the secure and seamless flow of patient data, from medical images to clinical records, which is fundamental for both AI model training and coordinated international research efforts. China's leadership in developing international standards for assistive robots, released in March 2025, signals its intent to shape the global technology landscape for elderly care.