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China Urged to Address Ageing
By BBC News
October 21, 2004
A senior Chinese official has spoken out over the problems the nation faces due to its rapidly ageing society.
Zhao Baohua warned that if they were not addressed properly "aging problems will become a big obstacle to the pace of China's economic development".
China's population is ageing at a faster rate than any other nation.
By 2050 China is expected to have 400 million senior citizens - those above the age of 60 - making up a fourth of the total population.
Mr Zhao, deputy director of the Office of China National Committee on Ageing, made his remarks to the state-run China Daily newspaper to mark the launch of a documentary entitled The Silent Revolution.
The documentary will air for the first time on Friday, Chinese Senior Citizens' Day.
Mr Zhao said that all sectors of society should give greater importance to the issue of China's ageing population, and find solutions to assist the more elderly members of communities.
The number of Chinese people aged over 60 is currently 134 million - which already accounts for half the senior citizens in Asia - but even within the next decade this figure is set to rapidly increase, Mr Zhou said.
According to an analysis in the China Business Times, there were six children to every one senior citizen 35 years ago.
Now there are two elderly people to every one child.
The Chinese government is now focusing on improving its insurance plans to cope with the changing demographic structure, the China Daily reported.
But some sectors of society are set to benefit from the rising population of elderly people.
Products that make people look younger and services specifically for the elderly are attracting an increasing number of consumers, according to the China Daily.
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