China issues guideline on better care for senior citizens

China's central government Friday issued a guideline to better serve the country's senior citizens.

The guideline, released by the State Council, China's cabinet, included 20 key tasks concerning the increasing elderly population, such as establishing an electronic database of their health conditions, providing a pension for poor or disabled seniors, increasing access to educational resources, and setting up a long-term care insurance system.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs said that more than 220 million Chinese citizens were over the age of 60 at the end of 2016. The government has predicted the elderly will account for about one-quarter of the population by 2030.

The State Council issued a plan in March for state-owned nursing homes to account at least 30 percent of the nation's total residential care facilities for the elderly by 2020.