BEIJING -- The number of nursing homes in China has more than tripled in the past five years, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Statistics show that the country had more than 144,600 nursing institutions as of September 2017, 226 percent more than that of the end of 2012.

In March 2017, the Chinese government launched a campaign of improving the quality of nursing institutions for the elderly. More than 40,000 nursing homes have been inspected, with nearly 200,000 risks handled and more than 2,000 institutions closed.

Medical services were provided in 78.6 percent of all nursing homes by July 2017. The ratio of beds for those incapable of taking care of themselves rose from less than 30 percent in 2015 to 46.4 percent by July 2017.

China had more than 230 million people aged 60 or above at the end of 2016, 16.7 percent of the total population. The number of people aged 60 or above was 194 million in 2012, 14.3 percent of the total population.