For 83-year-old Li Lu, it's never too late to learn, shop and work - especially in the virtual world.

Li is among 10 seniors hired as product counselors at China's largest online service, Taobao.com, which will launch a new app on Thursday to allow seniors easier shopping access.

"I've always enjoyed interacting with people ever since I was young, and hope to do something significant and interesting even at an age like this," chuckled veteran online shopper Li, who graduated from Tsinghua University and lives in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, where Taobao is based.

"I am generally satisfied with what I purchase at Taobao. It is my wish to help senior citizens streamline their buying habits and procedures and avoid low-quality products," she said.

Taobao said it would stay in constant touch with the senior counselors about their shopping habits in order to enhance its user experience for the older generation and better tap the potentially lucrative market made up of an aging population.

The company also plans to recruit seniors as user behavior research specialists with a handsome package of 350,000 yuan to 400,000 yuan ($55,300 to $63,200) a year. The ideal candidates will be older than 60, socially engaged, active in philanthropical endeavors and adept at online shopping with at least one year's experience.

About 3,000 resumes have been received, mostly from residents of Shanghai and Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. Women accounted for 70 percent, with about half having a bachelor's degree or higher, Taobao said.

Taobao's parent company, Alibaba Group Holding, says there are 30 million middle-aged and senior online shoppers registered with Taobao and Tmall, with over 75 percent between 50 and 59. From January to September last year, the per capita online spending for those shoppers over 50 reached about 5,000 yuan, with each shopper buying an average of 44 items.

China has a fast-growing aging population - people over 60 made up 16.7 percent of the population at the end of 2016, and by 2030 they are expected to account for about 25 percent, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Online shopping by middle-aged and senior people surged by 57 percent last year and 70 percent in 2016, according to a report from JD.com. Their per capita spending on JD.com last year was more than twice the average for the online platform, said the report.