LURKING PROBLEMS

However, while the burgeoning industry is booming, it also faces a thicket of barriers that might stymie its future development.

"Some companies or nursing homes have worked with government bodies, while others just work on their own," said Fu Yanjuan, who is in charge of Emotte's branch in Tianjin.

Fu said that without sufficient tie-up with government bodies, it would be difficult for agencies like Emotte to win trust from the elderly.

Li Jiajun, president of Tianjin University, believes governments should initiate favorable policies and pump extra subsidies into these agencies as well as conventional care homes to assist their development.

"But governments are not omnipotent, and that means families and society should make joint efforts in the wake of a graying nation," Li added.

Zhang Surong, managing director of Huaxiajinguo Community Service Co. Ltd., a domestic services company in Anshan City of northwest China's Liaoning Province, agrees.

Zhang said that China should step up efforts in training staff in this field, urging that "the government could consider subsidizing staff to cut the costs on the side of traditional nursing homes and companies."

In addition, authorities should ramp up supervision and up the threshold for domestic service providers to ensure quality, suggested Li Jiajun.

"To guarantee the quality of healthcare, meals and so on, certain quarantine institutions need to be set up to supervise the services, but such watchdogs are lacking at the moment," Li said.