Xi urges investment in care for the elderly
Print Edition
PRESIDENT Xi Jinping has called for better care for China’s aging population. The country should increase its investment in care for the elderly, Xi told a meeting of the country’s top leaders.
With the world’s largest number of senior citizens, China has improved elderly care, Xi said. However, much remains to be done and a large gap remains between reality and elderly people’s expectations of a happy and comfortable life in their twilight years.
The issue is important in relation to the overall development of the nation and people’s well-being, Xi told the members of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party’s Central Committee.
“Our policy measures, work base, institutional mechanisms, and so forth are still deficient, leading to a fairly large gap with the hope of the elderly to enjoy happiness later in life,” Xi said.
He said China’s elderly citizens deserved acceptance and respect from the public. Respecting and caring for the elderly are traditional Chinese virtues, he said, and should continue in modern times.
Xi said older people should be encouraged to play an active role in moral education and resolving social conflicts, and he also pointed out the bright prospects for the elderly care industry, given the huge demand for products and services.
Xi urged continuous improvement in elderly care through scientific studies and learning from other countries.
For the first time in decades, China’s working age population fell in 2012 and the world’s most populous nation could be the first country in the world to get old before it gets rich.
China’s population is set to peak at about 1.45 billion by 2050 when one in every three people is expected to be more than 60 years old, with a shrinking proportion of working adults to support them.
At present, there are more than 220 million people aged 60 or over in China, 16 percent of its total population.
Facing the problem is an “important responsibility,” Xi said. “Meeting the various needs of the huge elderly population and properly solving the social problems that an aging population brings are matters relating to the overall development of the country and welfare of the people,” Xi said.
China’s aging population is one of a handful of factors analysts cite as underpinning expectations of a lower medium-term economic growth outlook.
Last October, China announced a relaxation of its “one-child” policy to allow all couples to have two children.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
