Authorities mull measures to address aging population

As Spring Festival approaches, many migrants are expected to return to their rural hometowns from cities where the number of COVID cases has been rising over the past month. That poses a risk to rural residents, many of whom are seniors.

The annual central rural work conference was held in Beijing on Dec 23 and 24. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, who is also China's president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended the meeting and delivered an important speech.

He said the target of "ensuring basic modern living conditions in the rural areas" means development projects must be well-organized and implemented to speed up the construction of public service facilities in fields such as anti-epidemic programs, senior care, education and healthcare.

Officials attending a Dec 24 meeting on COVID-19 control in the rural regions described the countryside as "vast, populous and thinly resourced". They said the upcoming mass migration would pose a new COVID-19 challenge in rural areas.

Local authorities were urged to quickly vaccinate senior rural residents and members of other vulnerable groups, and to ensure that outbreaks don't disrupt the supply of agricultural materials, such as fertilizer.

County hospitals serve a large number of people from nearby villages and townships, mostly older folk whose children work in large cities.

Over the past month, related institutions nationwide, from the Inner Mongolia autonomous region to Fujian and Hebei provinces, have raced to purchase life-support equipment as part of wider efforts to bolster the supply of critical-care facilities.