HONG KONG: US finance firm Fortress Investment plans to raise $1 billion for a China fund that would invest in housing for the elderly, as authorities contend with a looming ageing problem, a report said Monday.

The hedge fund and buy-out group wants to team up with a local partner at a time when China is encouraging private companies to get involved in providing housing for the elderly, the Financial Times said, citing company co-founder Wesley Edens.

The newspaper pointed out the potential for growth in providing services for the elderly in China, where the problem of a rising proportion of old people is thought to have been exacerbated by "one-child" policies limiting the number of offspring per family.

However entering the market is a complex task, involving working with the state in a sector that combines hospitality, housing and medical care, Edens told the business daily.

"It is complicated and difficult to get it right," he said.

Edens was in China in January meeting government officials and corporate executives and the firm is in talks with potential partners, the newspaper said.

Fortress, which was hit hard by the global financial crisis, operates the largest independent living facilities for seniors in the United States and Canada, the FT said.

Currently, 155 million of China's 1.3 billion people are over 65, and the number is expected to swell rapidly to about 260 million by 2020, it added.