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China is feeling the pressure exerted by an elderly population of 143 million -- the largest in the world. According to a report released by the China National Committee on Aging on Thursday, the aging population is growing by 3.02 million annually.

China's elderly population is expected to hit 437 million by 2051 when three out of 10 Chinese people will be over 60, said the report.

Li Bengong, a senior official with the committee, said China is facing a surging demand from the elderly population in terms of social welfare and medical service.

In 2004, expenditure on social welfare for the elderly population reached 350.2 billion yuan (around US$42 billion)--up 65.5 percent from 2000. Welfare fees for retired people as well as medical insurance funds also rose steeply. Li admitted that welfare services may not match the rise in demand.

At present China has 380,000 homes for elderly people with 1.2 million beds. This means that 1,000 elderly people are competing for 8 beds--far less than the 50 to 70 beds of developed countries.

The Chinese government recognizes the problem and has increased government financial support to social welfare development designed to meet the needs of elderly people, Li noted.

In 2004 the central financial subsidy to endowment insurance climbed to 52.2 billion yuan (around US$6.3 billion).

The pressure of an aging population in rural areas is even bigger than in urban districts. About 85.57 million elderly rural residents--making up 65.82 percent of the country's total--do not benefit from the country's social welfare system, pensions or receive adequate medical care.

But China's population officials and experts said on Thursday that an ageing society should not affect the long-established family-planning policy.

Yan Qingchun, deputy director of the committee's general office, attributed the increasing age of the population to lower birth rates and longer life expectancy.

"It's unreasonable to place all the blame on China's family planning policy, which actually exerted little influence on the ageing population growth," Yan said. He added that the national family planning policy covers two thirds of China's population -- not it all.

According to the fifth national population census the life expectancy of the Chinese people was 71.4 years in 2000 -- 2.85 years longer than 1990.

"People live longer, which is the main reason for the rise in the number of elderly people," said Yan.

He added that the family planning policy helped reduce China's population in the 1970s. But people's views on the subject had changed with  social and economic development speeding-up quickly. The number of "Dink" (double income with no kids) families continues to rise. .

China's population has reached 1.3 billion and is expected to hit 1.465 billion by 2030 posing great challenges to China's economic and social development, said the report.

China is advocating that "senior citizens live at home and be taken care of in the community". Yan calls for an overall development program for services for elderly people and investing more in community development.

(Xinhua News Agency February 24, 2006)