Chinese senior citizen population booming

BEIJING, June 24 (UPI) -- A Chinese government official said the Asian nation will need to invest heavily in social programs for a booming elderly population.

There were 178 million Chinese 60 or older as of 2010, state-run Xinhua news agency said. That number was expected to double by 2030, said Chen Liang of the Chinese Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. In less than two decades, China will overtake Japan as the world's fastest-aging nation, a government report said.

Liang, speaking at an international symposium, said the Chinese government must increase the amount of money it is putting into its social programs and diversify its investment channels to expand resources to support its aging population.