By Clare Jim
HONG KONG, Aug 20 (Reuters) - After spending time with his84-year-old mother in a senior care home in the southern Chinesecity of Shenzhen, David Lee walked up to the supervisor andasked to reserve a place there for his own retirement.
Lee, a 56-year-old from just across the border in Hong Kong,moved his mother, who has Alzheimer's and other ailments, intoYee Hong Heights two months ago as it became more difficult forhim to care for her.
An increasing number of people like him are moving outsideHong Kong - one of the world's most expensive cities - tomainland China for cheaper and better retirement options.
"My mother had been queuing for two years for a space in asenior care home in Hong Kong, and she only waited two monthsbefore getting a space here," Lee said.
It is a marked departure from the scepticism that greetedthe Hong Kong government a few years ago when it tried toencourage seniors to retire in China's Guangdong province aspart of an effort to ease a housing shortage.
Many then were concerned about cultural differences, medicalservices and a lack of insurance coverage in the mainland.
But faster transport links to the mainland and anintegration push by the Hong Kong and Chinese centralgovernments under the Greater Bay Area initiative have helpedease some of those fears.
The senior care market in China is estimated to grow to 7.7trillion yuan ($1.12 trillion) by 2020 and to 20 trillion by2030, from 5 trillion yuan in 2016. That has led to a flood ofinvestors from Hong Kong and overseas.
New World Development, a major Hong Kongdeveloper, said it planned to expand "Humansa" - a seniorhealthcare and rehabilitation service it launched late last year- into Shenzhen, Foshan, Shunde and other cities in themainland this year.
It has so far invested HK$400 million ($51.13 million) inthe "high-quality and personalised" service, and owns about1,000 beds in Hong Kong. In five years, it plans to increase thenumber to 4,000 in the Greater Bay Area, it said.
Baring Private Equity told an industry summit recently thatit planned to invest in senior housing in the Greater Bay Area.
ROOM TO GROW
So far, there are at least five senior homes in Guangdongopened by Hong Kong investors or non-government organizations,providing over 2,000 beds, official data show.
According to an official Hong Kong survey, 77,000 peoplefrom Hong Kong 65 and older lived in Guangdong in 2016.
Hong Kong's Labour and Welfare Bureau forecast there wouldbe a shortage of 11,600 subsidised beds for elderly care in the2026 fiscal year. That's the equivalent of about 70 senior carehomes.
A room in one Chinese elderly home serving Hong Kong clientscosts less than $1,000 a month, just a fraction of the$2,000-$5,000 charged for a mid- to high-end facility in HongKong.
Elderly Hong Kongers who cannot afford those rates wait 37months on average for subsidised senior housing, and the averageroom is 6.5 square metres, compared with 30 square metres in themainland.
To encourage more seniors to retire in mainland China, theHong Kong government grants social security assistance tounderprivileged elderly in Guangdong and Fujian provinces.
The government also plans to grant additional old-age livingallowances starting in 2020 for people living in the twoprovinces.
Yee Hong Height is run by a Hong Kong NGO that works withthe Hong Kong government to allocate subsidised beds. But italso sells private beds to both Hong Kong and mainland Chineseelderly.
Out of a total of 315 beds, 190 are occupied by Hong Kongpeople, compared with fewer than 10 when the facility firstopened in 2006.
It expects the percentage of Hong Kong people to rise to 70%in two years plans to add 200 to 300 beds.
"In the past we were like sales people and had to go to HongKong to promote our centre. But now, many people come to visitus themselves," said Jackie Mo, superintendent of Yee HongHeights.
Service providers from Hong Kong and Macau get constructionand operation subsidies - just like their local peers - if theyutilise idle social resources for development.
Yet "if you target 100% Hong Kong elderly, it doesn't lookgood to the local government," Mo said. "But if you want totarget local Chinese clients, there are so many cheaper optionshere."
Insufficient medical insurance in China and a lack ofconfidence in China's medical services remain the biggestobstacle for Hong Kong people retiring there, according toindustry sources.
"Since I have spent most of my life time in Hong Kong; I ammore familiar and have trust in the local hospital rather thanthe Greater Bay Area," said Mr Liu, 74, a retiree who declinedto give his full name, adding he would not consider moving to asenior care home in the mainland.($1 = 7.8236 Hong Kong dollars)($1 = 6.8911 Chinese yuan renminbi)(Reporting by Clare Jim; Additional reporting by Kevin Liu;Editing by Gerry Doyle)