The longevity boom reaches China — the more important question lies elsewhere

A clinic in Shanghai calls itself China's first longevity clinic — a claim that is hard to verify. The drivers are clear: a rapidly aging society and a growing, affluent middle and upper class willing to pay privately for health. The offer ranges from supplements and infusions to oxygen chambers, cold exposure and promises about stem cells and cellular rejuvenation. China also produces much of the world's NMN, a precursor of NAD that carries a large share of the global supplement business. So far the market is mostly consumer-driven; medical precision, clear indications and physician follow-up play a smaller role — typical of an early market.

Depending on definitions, the global market is estimated in the tens of billions of dollars — roughly 28 to 30 billion for 2025 — with forecasts of doubling or tripling over the next decade. Those numbers depend heavily on whether supplements, wearables, diagnostics, clinical services or drug pipelines are counted. The direction is the reliable part. North America is the largest market, with roughly 800 longevity clinics. The Middle East is investing state money in whole ecosystems, and Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing region.

Lifestyle longevity is a consumer market — supplements, devices, retreats, experiences — that sells the feeling of acting against aging. Often harmless, rarely proven to extend healthy years. Medical longevity is physician-led prevention. It measures aging processes with biomarkers such as ApoB, fasting glucose or VO2 max, with imaging and, where validated, epigenetic age testing. What counts is time: an early baseline and regular follow-up. A one-off premium package without follow-up doesn't meet that standard.

"Where is longevity most advanced?" is the wrong question. What matters is the medical substance of an offer. In the U.S., many longevity clinics are physician-led, often by internists, cardiologists, endocrinologists or sports-medicine specialists. That doesn't protect against overpromising — "longevity doctor" is not a protected title, and there's a gray zone between validated diagnostics and experimental therapy. But the bar is higher than in a pure consumer market.

1. Medical qualification: a licensed physician, board certification, ideally training in preventive medicine.
2. Transparency: about methods and evidence, with a clear line between validated and experimental.
3. Consequences: diagnostics that lead to decisions, not a collection of numbers.
4. Time: follow-up over months and years, not a single check-up. Three questions to ask any clinic: Who is medically responsible? What follows from my results? Who stays with me over time?

The boom will continue — partly serious medicine, partly expensive zeitgeist. Where an offer comes from matters less than how it's practiced, and that you can check.