More support for elderly in Shanghai

SHANGHAI: 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.