Authorities in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, will build more educational institutes for retired residents, said Wan Qingliang, the city's Party chief.

At a council meeting of the International Association of the University of the Third Age, which opened on Friday, Wan said Guangzhou currently has more than 1.2 million senior residents aged above 60.

"But there are only 35 schools and colleges in the city that are designed for senior residents. We will expand the enrollment by the next three to five years by building more such schools," Wan said.

According to Gu Xiulian, former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China currently has about 5 million senior residents studying in more than 40,000 schools.