Tai'an city in Shandong province plans to add 5,000 nursing room beds for the city's senior citizens by the end of this year, according to a meeting on the social endowment service system held on Monday, My0538.com reported.

The nursing beds will cover all the cities and counties in the Tai'an area, with 600 beds in Taishan district, 800 in Daiyue district, 1,000 in Xintai city, 1,000 in Feicheng, 500 in Ningyang county, 900 in Dongping county, 100 in the high-tech district and 100 in the Mount Tai scenic spot.

The city will also build another 32 service centers for the elderly, 52 senior daycare centers and three county-level endowment service information platforms.

Furthermore, Tai'an will gradually establish an allowance system, service subsidy system and nursing subsidy system for seniors over 80 who face financial challenges. The subsidy systems will regulate the senior centers to ensure better food and medical care, financial management services and security.

As of 2012, Tai'an city had about 15,000 nursing home beds and 107 social welfare institutions for the elderly. The elderly population above 60 has reached 840,000, making up 15.1 percent of the registered population, statistics shows.

Edited by Michael Thai and Li Xiaoliang