China is educating its people on how to better take care of senior citizens, as the nation is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that its older folk live comfortably through their twilight years.

This move is in line with the Chinese government efforts to provide more professional services for its older population, while making the nation realizes that they are in the midst of an ageing society, reported the China Daily.

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According to Ministry of Civil Affairs Minister Li Liguo, China has 88 colleges that now offer courses in caring for senior citizen, which has lured 2,583 students to this field by the end of 2015

"We've also cooperated with other government departments to give training and qualification tests for those willing to serve the elderly, in a move to increase the number of nursing workers to 6 million by 2020," said Li, adding that the country has had 68 such training institutes so far.

To recall, the Standing Committee of National People's Congress, China's top legislative body, conducted an inspection to determine if a law that aimed to protect the rights and interests of elderly folk was properly enforced last year.

Unfortunately, the feedback from the rural areas was not encouraging.

The probe's findings prompted the Ministry to implement initiatives that seek to provide better services for China's senior citizens.

These efforts include the putting up of more than 27,000 nursing houses which can accommodate about 2.5 million patients in the countryside.

"In addition, we are also considering making better use of beds to supply improved health care services for senior citizens," Li added.

Based on data from the nation's top legislature, China has 212 million people who are beyond the age of 60, and comprise about 15.5 percent of the nation's total population

It is expected that by 2020, China's senior citizens will reach 243 million, wherein age-related problems are expected to surface. 

Tagschina, China Senior Citizens, China Ministry of Civil Affairs