BEIJING — China had 38,000 nursing homes for the elderly by the end of last year, an increase of over 37 percent since the end of 2015, said a civil affairs press conference on Feb 23.

The country can provide 8.24 million beds for the elderly, a year-on-year growth of 7.3 percent and an increase of 22.5 percent since 2015, said Li Jiheng, minister of civil affairs, at the conference.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), the country invested 5 billion yuan ($775 million) into enhancing elderly care services in 203 regions all across the nation and released relevant policies for four consecutive years to protect the rights of elders, according to Li.

Populations aged 60 and above in China had reached 254 million by the end of 2019, accounting for 18.1 percent of the total.