Society

　　Aging Society

　　More than 131.6 million Chinese citizens are now over the age of 65， about 9.7 percent of the population， the Ministry of Civil Affairs said on June 17.

　　The population of those at or above 60 had hit 202 million by the end of 2013， nearly 15 percent of the total population. According to international standards， a country or region is considered to be an “aging society” when the number of people aged 60 or over reaches 10 percent or more of its total population.

　　China’s population above age 60 is expected to exceed 300 million by 2025 and hit 30 percent of the total population by 2050.

　　China has more than 42，500 nursing centers for the elderly， with about 5 million beds. The number of beds has increased nearly 19 percent from a year earlier， but there are still only enough beds for 2.44 percent of senior citizens.

　　Orphan Care

　　More than 80，000 disabled orphans have undergone surgery and rehabilitation over the past decade thanks to a welfare project， Minister of Civil Affairs Li Liguo said.

　　Some 18，000 disabled orphans were adopted by domestic or overseas families after convalescence from surgery， Li said on June 16 at a conference about the Tomorrow Project， a program initiated in 2004 by his ministry.

　　The project is mainly funded by China’s welfare lottery and has received over 50 million yuan ($8.03 million) worth of donations from people of all circumstances， according to Li.

　　Li vowed to push forward the project and expand its focus from surgery to general medical treatment and to extend its coverage to sick and disabled children from needy families.

　　Underground Survey

　　A general survey of underground pipelines in cities and a unified management system will be completed by 2015， the Chinese Government announced on June 14 in a move to reducing accidents caused by aging facilities.

　　Gas， water， sewerage， telecommunications and other underground pipelines will be upgraded by 2019， the State Council， China’s cabinet， said in a policy document.

　　A sound urban underground pipeline system will be built by 2024 and substantially better emergency response and disaster prevention are called for in the document.

　　Serious accidents caused by old pipes have become more frequent. The death toll reached 62 when crude oil leaked from an underground pipeline in November 2013 in Qingdao， east China’s Shandong Province.

　　Joint Lab

　　An international laboratory for high-altitude medical research has been established in Xining， capital of northwest China’s Qinghai Province， on June 16.

　　The lab is a cooperative effort between China’s Qinghai University and the University of Utah in the United States. Scientists from the two schools have been partners in academic exchange， personnel training and research collaboration since a cooperative agreement was signed in April 2010.

　　High-altitude medicine focuses on the prevention and treatment of altitude sickness as well as other health issues affecting travelers， adventurers and residents of high mountainous regions around the world.

　　Island School

　　Sansha， China’s youngest city in southernmost Hainan Province， began building its first school on June 14.

　　The construction of Yongxing School， which included a kindergarten and a primary school， is expected to be completed in 18 months， said Mayor Xiao Jie.

　　With a total investment of about 36 million yuan ($5.78 million)， the school will cover 4，650 square meters.

　　Sansha， on Yongxing， one of the Xisha Islands， was officially established in July in 2012 to administer the Xisha， Zhongsha and Nansha islands and their surrounding waters in the South China Sea.

　　About 40 school-age children have parents living and working on Yongxing. With no school， most had to go to schools elsewhere or were left with their grandparents.

　　Full Bellies

　　The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on June 16 awarded a prize to China， along with Chile and Morocco， for having met the first Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by 2015 compared with 1990-91 figures， in a special ceremony at the agency’s headquarters in Rome， Italy.

　　According to the FAO， China reduced the prevalence of undernourishment from 22.9 percent in 1990-92 to 11.4 percent in 2011-13， bringing the estimated number of chronically hungry people down from 272.1 million to 158 million.

　　Jose Graziano da Silva， Director General of the FAO， spoke highly of China’s policies of maintaining the current size of farmland for agriculture through setting a “bottom line” to contain urban erosion of land for agricultural production.

　　Meanwhile， the FAO chief also voiced hope that China would continue to achieve even greater success under the framework of the Zero Hunger Challenge， an anti-hunger blueprint launched by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in 2012.

　　He praised a plan unveiled by the Chinese Government in January for rural reforms， further modernization of agriculture， and improvement of farmers’ incomes.

　　Peacekeeping Training

　　China’s Ministry of Defense and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations of the United Nations on June 16 started a 12-day training session for peacekeepers from 18 countries.

　　The 33 trainees include 10 Chinese， and officers from India， Pakistan， Malaysia， the Republic of Korea， and other Asian countries.

　　The training session is held once or twice a year at major peacekeeping facilities around the world， using the latest training criteria and modules.

　　In the past four years， China has held three peacekeeping training sessions with the UN.

　　China has established a fairly complete training system for peacekeepers， according to the Peacekeeping Office of the Ministry of Defense.

　　“China has already made outstanding progress toward this goal， in part due to policies that support targeted investments in agriculture， reforms in the agricultural system， and impressive increases in domestic food production.”

　　Jose Graziano da Silva， Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization

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