The municipal government will "aggressively develop" services to better care for its growing elderly population over the next three years, a work plan released yesterday said.

By 2010, one-10th of Shanghai residents older than 60 - 287,000 people currently - will be covered by the city's welfare institutions and care centers. For 250,000 of them, care will come from their neighborhood committees.

In addition, the municipality will spend 20 million yuan ($2.82 million) to launch 200 meal service stations for those elderly who are not otherwise cared for, the plan said without elaborating.

Traditionally, most elderly Chinese lived with their children after retirement. But in recent years, the number of elderly people without children has skyrocketed.

Deputy director of the municipal civil affairs bureau Gao Julan said that under the new plan, all urban neighborhood committees will be required to offer services for elderly people by the end of 2010.

"Meanwhile, comprehensive service centers for the elderly will also be set up.

"Different requirements have been established according to the differences of conditions in rural and urban areas," she said.

Authorities in Shanghai yesterday also raised the monthly allowance for the elderly from 200 yuan to 300 yuan. And people older than 100 will receive an extra 100 yuan a month in "nutritional subsidies".

The rapid growth of China's aged population has increased its social security burden.

There are currently more than 149 million Chinese older than 60, accounting for more than 11 percent of the population, a China National Committee on Aging (CNCA) report said.

In Shanghai, 2.87 million - 21 percent - of residents are older than 60, the Shanghai population and family planning commission's latest report said.

Low birth rates were also a contributing factor, it said.

Chen Qiwei, spokesman for the Shanghai municipal government, said yesterday that the city will continue expanding social services and working to better protect the legal rights of the elderly.

(China Daily April 10, 2008)