One-quarter of Shanghai's population elderly

SHANGHAI - The number of elderly people in Shanghai has reached 3.67 million, accounting for more than a quarter of the city's population, local authorities said Thursday.

Figures jointly released by the city's civil affairs bureau, senior citizen management office and statistics bureau indicate that the number of people 60 years or older in Shanghai increased by 195,700 from 2011 to 3,673,200 in 2012, accounting for 25.7 percent of the city's population.

Just over 13 percent of China's 1.3 billion people are elderly.

To cope with the growing elderly population, the city has been strengthening nursing facilities, medical institutions and caregivers.

Shanghai will speed up the establishment of services for the elderly and encourage those in their 60s to take care of those in their 80s as part of the "Old Pal Plan" campaign, an official from the municipal civil affairs bureau said.