Guangzhou plans new nursing homes to meet demand

The Guangzhou city government plans to build nursing homes supplying 8,100 new beds every year between 2013 and 2020 to address the demand from its aging population.

The government will allocate 144.42 hectares, on 53 plots of land, to build the nursing homes, said Zhuang Yuequn, director of the city's civil affairs bureau, at a press conference on Monday.

The city had 1.33 million residents aged 60 or older last year, accounting for 15.98 percent of the population with local household registration, higher than the national and provincial averages.

Senior citizens are expected to account for 18.78 percent of the population in Guangzhou in 2020.

Nursing homes in Guangzhou offer 39,000 beds at present.