A blue book on China's development of healthy aging was released in Beijing on June 26.

The blue book focuses on the country's research on and measures to respond to the aging population.

Shao Hong, vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and Han Qide, vice-chairman of the 12th CPPCC National Committee and honorary president of the China Association for Science and Technology, attended the event.

Shao, also executive vice-chairman of the Central Committee of the Jiusan Society, stressed the uniqueness, originality, diversity and timeliness of blue books, calling on the research group to continuously make efforts to strengthen cooperation and improve efficiency, so as to better address the challenges brought about by an aging population, as well as to contribute to the Healthy China initiative and the country's decision making and social governance.

The elderly should be treated as a "resource" rather than a "burden", and their self-worth and spiritual need for being accepted by society should be valued, said Han, adding that efforts should be made to help improve their understanding of aging, diseases, death and life.

He also stressed the need for tailored measures and the pooling of resources from the aged group themselves to help solve the issue.