China regards the establishment of an old-age security system corresponding to the level of the country's socio-economic development and aging population as an important task and a priority area.   Dec. 12 - China said Tuesday that creating welfare programs for its soaring numbers of elderly is a national priority, but warned that will be a daunting challenge in a rapidly graying society.

 

The government has launched pension, health care and other programs for the elderly, the Cabinet said in a report on aging. It didn't mention any new initiatives.

 

"China regards the establishment of an old-age security system corresponding to the level of the country's socio-economic development and aging population as an important task and a priority area," it said.

 

"However, as a developing country with a population of 1.3 billion, China still has problems and shortcomings in the work concerning elderly people," the report said.

 

The number of elderly Chinese people is expected to top 200 million by 2015 and 280 million by 2025. Some 30 percent of the population would be classified as elderly by 2050, the Communist Party newspaper People's Daily said in October.

 

Rapid economic development has also weakened traditional thinking that requires sons to support parents in their old age, while daughters are expected to aid only their in-law.

 

Rural families are especially dependent on children to support them in old age, and the report said 60 percent of China's elderly live in the countryside.

 

The government "has begun to study the establishment of an old-age social security system in rural areas in order to guarantee the basic livelihood of the elderly people there," the report said.