China promotes accessible trains to meet growing demands of elderly population

China

China promotes accessible trains to meet growing demands of elderly population

2025-02-12 03:02 Last Updated At：08:27

China announced a series of policies to expand senior-friendly tourism services and senior-accessible trains at a press conference on Tuesday in Beijing.

China's population of senior citizens topped 300 million in 2024 bringing new demands for better elderly care services and improvements in the quality and enjoyment of seniors' daily lives.

In response, the Ministry of Commerce, China Railway Group and other departments, released a joint action plan to boost senior-friendly tourism with accessible trains as the centerpiece of the new approach.

Officials say the number of tourist train trips has increased significantly in recent years and, with the expanding elderly population and a growing demand for tourism, the potential for developing elderly-friendly tourist trains is considered huge.

"By 2027, over 100 high-quality routes for senior tourists are expected to be designed, with more than 2,500 elderly-friendly tourist trains in operation," said Zhu Wenzhong, deputy director at the Passenger Transportation Department of the China Railway Group.

According to the action plan, a comprehensive network of senior-friendly tourist trains will be established by 2027, featuring diverse routes, specialized themes and enhanced services for elderly travelers.

Officials emphasized infrastructure upgrades and renovations, making trains and scenic spots more accessible and comfortable with designs specifically catering to the needs of the elderly.

Establishing common standards for senior-friendly travel will be key to improving facilities for senior citizens.

"We need to optimize the services for elderly passengers, deploy professional medical and elderly care personnel on board, and ensure that medical expenses incurred during the journey can be covered through national medical insurance," said Kong Dejun, director of the Department of Trade in Services and Commercial Services at the Ministry of Commerce.

China's social financing grows by 28.6 trillion yuan in 10 months

China's social financing grew by 28.61 trillion yuan (about 4.28 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first 10 months of the year, the People's Bank of China said on Friday.

By the end of October, outstanding aggregate financing to the real economy, or social financing stock, stood at 469.16 trillion yuan, up 7.2 percent year on year.

M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, reached 359.06 trillion yuan, up 7.1 percent from a year earlier, the central bank's data showed.

The numbers show a reasonable growth of the country's aggregate financial volume, which provides a sound monetary and financial environment for sustained economic development toward new drivers, quality and improvement.

Outstanding yuan loans stood at 283.33 trillion yuan at the end of October, up 4.7 percent year on year. Within that, medium and long-term loans to the service sector excluding real estate grew 9.2 percent, while inclusive loans to micro and small businesses rose 6.9 percent, showing credit expanding at a reasonable pace with an improving structure.