A senior civil affairs official admitted that China is running short of nursing homes for the seniors as its society rapidly ages.

The total number of beds in existing nursing homes stands at 266,200, equal to 1.59 percent of the total number of seniors, said Dou Yupei, Vice Minister of Civil Affairs, at a meeting in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, on November 7.

The ratio was lower than in developed countries—5 to 7 percent—and developing countries—2 to 3 percent—Dou said.

Of the 167 million seniors in China, 11.4 percent were older than 80 years at the end of 2009 and most of them are not able to live independently, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.