HQ Team
January 8, 2025: China will develop humanoid robots for elderly care and support scientific and technological projects related to senior citizens, according to a state-run news agency.
Brain-computer interfaces and artificial intelligence will be used as part of the world’s most populous nation’s elderly care service reforms, Xinhua reported.
The reforms were outlined in the guidelines by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council on December 30, 2024.
China’s population fell by 850,000 compared with the end of the previous year (9.56 million births and 10.41 million deaths) in 2022, according to an editorial in Springer Nature.
Negative population growth
The natural population growth rate is -0.60‰, which is the first negative population growth under normal population development after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
Along with a negative population growth, China is currently the only country in the world with more than 200 million elderly people.
In 2022, there were 280.04 million people aged 60 and over in China, accounting for 19.8% of the national population.
Out of this, 209.78 million people were aged 65 and over, accounting for 14.9% of the national population, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2023.
Fastest-ageing population
The number of people aged 60 and above will exceed 300 million in 2024, and 500 million in 2048, and reach a peak of 524 million in 2052.
The WHO states that China has one of the fastest-growing ageing populations in the world.
The population of people over 60 years old in China is projected to reach 28% to 402 million by 2040 due to longer life expectancy and declining fertility rates, according to the global health agency.
The number of people aged 65 and above is expected to exceed 300 million in 2033, exceed 400 million in 2050, and reach a peak of 436 million in 2057, according to the Springer editorial.
Intelligent home systems
China will promote the adoption of intelligent home systems and explore services for early warning and prevention of safety risks in home-based elderly care, according to the new guidelines.
A unified national elderly care information platform will also be developed to more effectively align service supply with demand.
According to a report issued last year, China’s life expectancy had reached 78.6 years, Xinhua stated.
The country’s population aged 65 and above totalled 216.76 million, accounting for 15.4% of the country’s total population by the end of 2023.
Senior-friendly housing
The government will offer inclusive elderly care services that address essential needs while developing affordable, high-quality and sustainable solutions for long-term care, the guidelines stated.
China will accelerate the development of senior-friendly housing, including retrofitting existing homes for elderly use and promoting the installation of elevators in older residential buildings.
