Mainland elderly still rely largely on family, not pensions
Fewer than 25pc get by on retirement savings, with many, especially in rural areas, dependent on their children in old age
Just under a quarter of the mainland's elderly residents survive on pensions, while more than 40 per cent seemingly rely on family members, according to new official figures.
The data was revealed at a joint forum held by a United Nations group and a central government agency on the eve of yesterday's "Double Nine", or Chung Yeung, festival - a day traditionally reserved in Chinese culture for paying respects to ancestors and the elderly.
It follows an online survey earlier this month, which found about 90 per cent of the public was seriously concerned about their quality of life in old age.
According to the sixth national census in 2010, there were 178 million people over 60 living on the mainland, or about 13.3 per cent of the population.
At Monday's forum, hosted by the UN Population Fund and the China National Committee on Ageing, the UN's China representative, Arie Hoekman, said the elderly population in China would increase to 430 million by 2050 and make up more than 30 per cent of the population, The Beijing News reported yesterday.
Du Peng, deputy director of the Centre on Ageing Studies at Renmin University, said at the forum that a study he conducted in 2010 found 24. 1 per cent of the elderly population was receiving pensions, compared with 19.6 per cent 10 years earlier.
The percentage of senior citizens living on the support of family members dropped from 43.8 per cent in 2000 to 40.7 per cent in 2010.