With a growing number of the elderly, China is seeing a widening
gap for the endowment insurance fund for the aged, a Chinese
official said.
To cope with the aging situation, China needs at least 2.5
trillion yuan endowment insurance fund as strategic reserve by
2030, said Li Bengong, executive deputy director of the Office of
the China National Committee on Aging.
"The retiring population is growing by 6 percent each year,
while the gap for endowment insurance fund in enterprises and firms
is widening," Li said.
Statistics from the Ministry of Health shows the medical
insurance expense increased by 31.6 percent in 2004 as compared to
2003, which was mainly attributable to the aging population, Li
said.
Chinese seniors above age 60 amounts to 143 million, making up
11 percent of the country's total population, accounting for half
of the total aged population in Asia and 20 percent worldwide.
China currently has 32.5 million aged people that need nursing
and looking after, according to the China National Committee on
Aging and the Population Studies Institute.
More than 30 percent of Chinese cities have no service centers
for the elderly in the communities and even more in the rural
areas, Li said.
By 2020, there will be more than 30 million people above 80
years of age, Li said.
There are about 1,700 privately run retirement homes in China
housing approximately 250,000 inhabitants and state-owned
retirement homes accommodate about two million people, according to
statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
China is exploring a system for caring the aged in which
families, communities and retirement homes will all take part, Li
said.
(Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2006)