Seniors make rice dumplings in Beizhan community, Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The National Health Commission and the China National Committee on Ageing recently designated 999 communities across the nation as national model age-friendly communities.

Of the 999 listed communities, one - Beizhan community - is located in Yiwu, a county-level city in East China's Zhejiang province.

Located in Houzhai sub-district in Yiwu, Beizhan community has more than 1,400 residents aged above 60, more than 500 of whom are non-locals.

In recent years, the community has showed outstanding performance in improving its services related to seniors by establishing facilities such as a university for the elderly, a home-based care service center and a rehabilitation hospital that can accommodate more than 500 people.

China plans to create 5,000 age-friendly communities around the country from 2021 to 2025, according to the National Health Commission.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in an age-friendly community, policies, services and structures related to the physical and social environment are designed to support and enable older people to "age actively" – that is, to live in security, enjoy good health and continue to participate fully in society.