China eyes better elderly care services

BEIJING - Minister of Civil Affairs Huang Shuxian has called for more efforts to provide higher quality public services for senior citizens amid mounting pressure posed by the growing elderly population.

Addressing a national meeting on Friday, Huang called on local authorities to work with local legislatures to revise or perfect their accompanying policies with regard to the law on protection of the rights and interests of the elderly, which was revised in 2013.

Noting that only 12 provincial regions had revised their policies by the end of 2016, the minister said that all work on new policies should be completed during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) period.

By the end of 2015, China had 222 million people aged 60 or above, making up 16.1 percent of the total population. The figure is expected to reach 255 million by 2020, 17.8 percent of the population.