This Day, That Year

Item from July 30, 1985, in China Daily: More than 130,000 yuan was collected to build this "welfare house" in Fengkou town, Honghu county, Hubei province, for the childless elderly ...

The overwhelming majority of childless elderly people in China's rural areas have fewer worries under the "five guarantees system", which refers to food, clothing, medical care, housing and burial expenses assured by the State or collectives for the rural elderly.

By the end of last year, more than 97 percent of the 2.96 million rural elderly who have no children were assured of the five items.