New | 'Beijing mulls treating elderly in neighbouring cities'
Municipal government discussing with two cities in Hebei province if they can share the burden of caring for the capital's ageing population, according to a newspaper report
Officials from two cities in Hebei province – Zhangjiakou and Zhuozhou – are in talks with the municipal government in Beijing about helping to care for the capital’s rapidly increasing number of elderly, according to a mainland newspaper report.
The cities may be able to provide beds in care homes and medical treatment for pensioners, according to the Beijing Youth Daily.
About 2.8 million people in Beijing are over 60, about 21 per cent of the capital’s registered population. Other old people are living in Beijing without an official household registration, boosting the figure still higher.
Two other cities in Hebei – Langfang and Boading – announced details in March of plans to strengthen their infrastructure as part of central government plans to take some of the overflow from the capital in neighbouring cities.
Moving Beijing’s elderly to Hebei’s care centres could be a possible solution to relieve the pressure of supporting an ageing population, an unnamed official with capital’s bureau of civil affairs told the newspaper.
“There are a lot of problems. For instance, how much subsidy will Hebei receive for taking in Beijing’s elderly people?” the official said. “It still needs policy research and design.”
The capital now has 90,000 nursing beds for the elderly and about 5,500 specialised nurses caring for them.