372 seniors living over 100 years old
National Senior Citizens’Day fell on October 13 and statistics re-leased by Suzhou Civil Affairs Bureau last week reveal that a total of 372 senior citi-zens over the age of 100 are living in Suzhou, comprising 86 males and 286 fe-males.
Suzhou has the third largest population above 100 in Jiangsu province, after Nan-tong and Yancheng cities. The latest sur-vey that polled seniors above 100 years old in our city shows that most of them are re-tired soldiers, doctors and professors. Common traits shared by seniors polled in the survey are a happy personality, a regu-lar lifestyle and a harmonious family.
Suzhou’s Gusu district has 122 seniors aged over 100, the most among all the dis-tricts, followed by Zhangjiagang, Chang-shu and Taicang county-level cities. The oldest people in Suzhou are Zou Bingnan from Changshu city and Shen Weizhen from Wujiang district. They were both born in 1901.
Nearly 90% of seniors aged over 100 polled in the survey said they have easy and quick access to medical treatment. Staff at Suzhou Civil Affairs Bureau said it doesn’t matter whether they live in the country or in the city, so long as they are covered by medical insurance.
Females seem to outlive their male counterparts, partly due to their physio-logical differences and different pressures in life. Most female seniors polled in the survey had a difficult life when they were young, but their jobs were relatively safe.
Experts explain that most women have a mild temperament and they are more willing than men to talk with others about their problems.
Suzhou was one of the first Chinese cities to have an ageing population. By the end of last year, the population aged over 60 in Suzhou had exceeded 1.44 million, about 22% of the entire population. It is estimated that the number will grow to 1.8 million by the end of 2020, meaning one in four residents of Suzhou will be a senior citizen. The number of seniors above 80 years old will reach 214,000 by then.
(Suzhou Daily)