The government yesterday offered a more reliable shoulder to lean on for some 134 million Chinese who are over the age of 60, promising a "steadily improving'' welfare system to ensure them a happy life in retirement.

The government should spearhead its efforts in urban communities and in the countryside and help solve problems confronting the elderly in their daily lives, said Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu at the sixth session of the National Work Commission on the Ageing of the State Council.

"One work priority is to establish a social security system for the elderly,'' he said.

With the most important traditional festival of the Chinese -- Spring Festival -- around the corner, Hui's words may further warm many elderly hearts for the holidays, said Xu Qin, a leading researcher for the Beijing-based China Research Center on the Ageing.

For Xu, these announced guidelines for the commission indicate more government involvement in support of the elderly in the future.

One fact is that with more and more parents of only children entering into the aged category, defined in China as anyone over the age of 60, many local governments in cities find themselves confronted with a big headache, according to Xu.

"They are out of facilities and staff to replace the busy children to take care of the elderly,'' she said.

Similar situations occur in the countryside, with many young people marching into cities to fight for more promising futures.

"A more dedicated government role in this regard is necessary,'' Xu said.

Statistics from the commission indicates the country's ageing population is increasing at an average annual rate of more than 3 per cent over the past several years, and is expected to jump from today's 134 million to 240 million in year 2020. That will make up 15.6 per cent of the country's population on the whole.

But some essential improvements might take a couple of years to make, said Yuan Xinli, a leading official with the commission.

Major ideological changes will be required of people, along with an essential change of government,which has ignored community services to a certain degree for a long time, according to Yuan.

Yuan cited a recent research of the commission. The study finds only 5 per cent of the country's elderly people would like to leave their home and spend the rest of their lives at an elder home, even though the former might mean nothing but loneliness, while the latter presents understanding and loving concern, said Yuan.

Moreover, the care of the elderly by the government means a huge extra expense.

However, "no matter how hard it might be, we know the right direction and the 24 governmental departments involved have been urged to print out their specific measures to carry out the task in the near future,'' he said. "The elderly can depend more on the government.''

(China Daily January 13, 2004)