Shanghai to add 5,000 beds to care for the elderly

Shanghai plans to add 5,000 nursing room beds for the city's senior citizens by the end of this year, authorities from the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau said at a meeting on March 4.

Priorities this year also include building another 20 service centers for the elderly and adding 40 locations for serving meals to seniors in communities. About 280,000 seniors will be provided with community nursing services and home-based care services in 2013, said Ma Yili, director of the bureau.

As the first city to become at "aged society" in China, Shanghai is trying to build more care facilities to meet the demands of an aging population.

By the end of last year, the city had 105,200 nursing home beds, 313 day-care service centers and 492 locations to serve meals available for the elderly, statistics from the meeting shows.

The city also funded the refurbishment of 1,000 houses for seniors from financially challenged families so they can live more safely and comfortably, according to the meeting.

Shanghai has about 3.47 million seniors aged above 60 as of the end of 2011, making up 24.5 percent of the registered population. The number of retirees is expected to reach 4.3 million by the end of 2015, according to the bureau.