Older and poorer

Life expectancy in China is constantly rising. More people are living longer and entering ages when they may need looking after. However, the fertility rate, about 1.7, hasn't been high enough to replace the working population, which means a the government has a smaller pot of money to pay for the rising number of people in need of care, according to Yuan Xin, a professor of demographics at Nankai University's Institute of Population and Development.

"That raises questions about the financing and sustainability of a long-term, old-age-care insurance program, particularly in the form of a government-held public one," he said.

Sun Jie, deputy director of the School of Insurance and Economics at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, shared Yuan's opinion, saying the introduction of long-term care insurance for disabled elderly people is a necessary and urgent task in rapidly ageing China, but at present, "the issue is more about the form it will take - social public insurance or the commercial kind?" she said.