After real estate, who will become the next engine of economic growth? The answer may lie in the healthcare and insurance sectors.

Imagine a harsh reality: if untreated, you die; if treated, you survive. This essential need far surpasses housing — you can choose not to buy a house, but you must treat your illnesses. This is a hard requirement constrained by physiology.

Data speaks volumes. Over 100 million hypertension patients in China, over 100 million diabetes patients, and more than 100 million chronic kidney disease patients. These numbers are not simply additive; one person may suffer from multiple chronic conditions simultaneously. The patient population far exceeds the homebuyer population, and each patient requires long-term medical, nursing, and insurance expenditures.

More critically — once this expenditure structure is established, it is very difficult to change. Patients are compelled to remain long-term within the medical consumption cycle—taking medication, seeing doctors, buying insurance—these costs have no exit mechanism. Unlike real estate, which can depreciate or be sold, medical expenses are ongoing, rigid, and hard to interrupt.

In terms of market size, based on patient numbers and per capita expenditure cycles, this market’s capacity far exceeds that of the housing market on a household basis. Medical, nursing, and insurance are progressing together, with immense potential.