Support for elderly

That 7,000 elderly residents are waiting for a bed in a home for the elderly in Beijing points to the escalating number of elderly residents and the shortage of facilities to meet their needs.

By the end of 2011, the number of Chinese residents above the age of 60 had reached 185 million, 13.7 percent of the country's total population. At the same time, there were about 40,000 homes for the elderly providing about 3.15 million beds, enough for only 1.77 percent of the elderly population.

The development program of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) aims to increase the number of beds so that they will meet the needs of 3 percent of the elderly population. This is still far behind the nation's actual needs.