Si Dongmei (left), director of nursing at a medical care institute for elderly people who are unable to live independently because of illness or disability, in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, chats with a resident. [Photo: Ding Haitao / Xinhua]

China will have 42 million disabled senior citizens by 2020, and that number will more than double by 2050, according to an official with the China National Working Commission on Aging.

China has seen a rapid rise in numbers of senior citizens who are unable to care for themselves, live alone or are aged over 80, with all such groups in dire need of care services, said Li Zhihong, deputy head of the commission's policy research office, at an elderly care forum held in northern China's Tianjin City on Wednesday.

It is estimated that the country will have 97.5 million disabled elderly people by 2050, Li said. The number of people in the country aged above 80 will hit 29 million by 2020 and 108 million by 2050.

In addition, the number of elderly people who live alone or without their children's care is expected to total 118 million by 2020 and 262 million by 2050.

Li said the aging population brings great opportunities for China's elderly care industry, adding that technology is increasingly applied in the area.