Shanghai getting old as people living longer

One in four registered Shanghai residents are seniors, with the city reporting an increase of about 200,000 elderly residents in 2012, the Shanghai Morning Post reported on March 23.

With its rapidly aging population, Shanghai had 3.67 million people aged 60 or above at the end of 2012, the newspaper said, citing the city’s civil affairs bureau.

Most of the increased seniors are parents of the first generation of only children, and it’s estimated that the number of elderly fathers and mothers of only children has surpassed 1 million in the city.

Shanghai people are also living longer than before, with 1,251 of them 100 years old or above in 2012, up 95 from the previous year.

The number of centenarians per 100,000 people also climbed from 8.1 to 8.8 during the period.

Women live longer than men, the official figures showed. Of? Shanghai’s centenarians, 77 percent are women.

Gao Julan, deputy director of the city’s civil affairs bureau, said more care will be given to senior residents, whether they were born in?Shanghai?or not.

The city is studying a plan to have non-local senior residents enjoy some of the same benefits as local elderly people, such as the free bus rides.