2011-03-02 16:05

Whether China can create a practical and economical scheme to take care of its senior citizens will impact on its long-term development in the next five years, as the number of citizens above the age of 60 is expected to increase by 8 million annually and reach 216 million by the year 2015, accounting for more than 16 percent of the total population.

The number of residents above the age of 80 will reach 24 million, comprising 11 percent of the aged population. The number of elderly people above the age of 60 will reach 40 million in rural areas.

Traditionally, elderly residents were usually taken care of by their children when big families of two or three generations lived under the same roof, which is why filial piety was so important in traditional Chinese culture.

Now, many urban families have only one child under the country's family planning policy. As a result, looking after the elderly has become a social issue.

Despite the efforts of the central and local governments in the past years, there is still a huge gap between the existing resources and the number of senior citizens that these resources need to take care of.

Statistics in 2009 showed that there were some 40,000 homes for the aged nationwide, and the number of elderly people staying in them reached more than 2.6 million. It is unrealistic to expect that the development of such homes and facilities will catch up with the rapid increase in the elderly population.

So providing enough affordable and convenient community services so aged people can spend their remaining years at home would be a better solution.

The China National Committee on Ageing is working on a national strategy for the next five years to deal with the ageing problems China faces.

The central and local governments need to have a sense of urgency on this issue, as there is much to be desired when it comes to community services for the elderly.

Hopefully, the strategy will work out a detailed roadmap and timetable for the different stages of development for such services, which are badly needed by old people in both urban and rural areas.

The central and local governments also need to consider offering preferential policies in both taxes and use of land to private investors that are interested in providing such services.

The right policies and their good implementation will not just solve the problems of elderly residents but also create a lot of jobs, making community service for the elderly people a new area of economic growth.