China is to start the biggest public service campaign in its history to educate its policy-makers and citizens about the country's aging situation, said a senior official from the China National Committee on Aging.

Wu Yushao, deputy head of the committee, said the move is important because the situation will be the basis of policy-making for many years to come.

"But a good few grassroots policy-makers haven't realized the change," he said.

According to UN's prediction, the number of Chinese over age 60 will double by 2050, reaching 480 million, and those over age 80 will triple, reaching 110 million.

The scenario means a quarter of the world's elderly population will be living in China then.

According to Wu, the campaign was initiated by 14 departments, including the China National Committee on Aging, Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China and All-China Federation of Trade Unions, and it will mainly focus on policy-makers, young people and senior citizens.

"And we aim to enhance the whole society's consciousness on aging by 2020, and at that time the public will give more care to the elderly and the elderly will have more self-respect," he said.

The campaign will focus on improving the public's awareness of the country's aging situation, the policies and regulations concerning the elderly, and the country's achievements in protecting the rights of the elderly, Wu said.

It will also promote the public's respect for the group and help the group have a positive view of their life, he added.

To reach the goal, the campaign's initiators will arrange seminars in communities and put up advertisements and banners in the public sphere at different levels.

They will also organize activities, such as speech contests and essay-writing, and fund the production of films and TV episodes to promote the idea. According to Wu, local campaigns will be incorporated into the annual assessment of local authorities to insure the campaign's results.

Yuan Xin, a professor at Nankai University studying aging issues, said no one can be left unaffected by the country's aging process, even if they are young.

"Raising public awareness of the aging situation is unlikely to be achieved by any single party. Government should cooperate with nongovernmental forces," he said.