An elderly resident learns ink wash painting at a nursing home in Shaxian county in South China's Fujian province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Fujian in South China is ramping up investment in social care to ensure its growing number of elderly residents all have access to at least basic services.

The provincial government has vowed to make sure that all residents aged over 60 can access basic services by 2020.

It has also stated that everyone over 80 years old in the province shall be entitled to goverment-subsidized care services at home by the end of the decade.

The goals show that Fujian is responding proactively to the new challenges it faces now that the effects of China's aging population are beginning to kick in.

The coastal province currently has 5.3 million residents aged over 60, and this number is expected to increase to 6.2 million by 2020, according to government statistics.

If this prediction proves to be correct, elderly people will account for 15 percent of Fujian's population in four years'time.

Local governments across the province have already made great progress in their drive to ensure universal access to senior care.

In Songxi county, a region with a high level of poverty, the local government has set up 50 nursing homes in rural areas, which have enabled the majority of the county's elderly to access services including catering, health care and entertainment near their homes.