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.