Rugao, known as a "City of Longevity" in China, has been working to improve local elderly care services, said officials from the city's civil affairs bureau.

As of Jan 1, 2020, Rugao was home to 524 centenarians. Among its 1.42 million residents, 65,200 were aged above 80 and 9,200 above 90.

According to the bureau, the local government has set up an elderly nursing system combining institutions, communities and households. More than five standard nursing centers and over 20 meal centers have been built in towns, districts and communities to improve the day-time nursing services for elderly people.

The local government has also attached great importance to the integration of elderly care and medical services. A series of preferential policies have been introduced to help professional nursing centers and encourage town-level medical institutions to transform spare beds for elderly nursing.

To ensure service quality, the civil affairs bureau has worked with the local market regulatory administration, the health commission and other related departments to conduct regular inspection tours in nursing centers.

A comprehensive monitoring system has also been established to cover aspects such as fire safety, food safety and medical treatment.