Yangquan city in North China's Shanxi province remains committed to improving the living standards of its locals – after having made significant gains in doing so from 2016 to 2020.

In 2020, Yangquan achieved poverty alleviation for 27,000 registered poor people and all remaining 130 poor villages were lifted out of poverty. The per capita net income of the registered poor population was 9,721 yuan ($1,504) in 2020, which was 3.4 times that of 2016.

Furthermore, the city has developed its elderly care services sector by building, purchasing and renting day care centers for senior residents in urban and rural areas. To date, 86 urban day care centers and 305 rural day care centers for senior residents have been established.

Ji Changling, a 78-year-old retired teacher in Pingding county, administered by the city, has been living in the Pingding Elderly Service Center for nearly 12 years.

"Yangquan has attached great importance to the development of elderly care services in recent years and I believe that more senior residents will enjoy their old age with quality," Ji said.

The social security system has also reportedly achieved full coverage in Yangquan and the local basic medical insurance system for urban and rural residents has been integrated.

Last year, the number of people participating in basic medical insurance in the city reached 1.21 million, accounting for 98 percent of the total local residents. 

Wang Baiyang's family, who live in the Chengqu district of Yangquan, has been one of beneficiaries of the basic medical insurance since the insurance system included outpatient medication for hypertension and diabetes. 

According to Wang, it became a lot more convenient to receive medical treatment as the city carried out online outpatient services for major diseases, which were included in the medical insurance last year.

This allowed the family to consult specialist doctors and buy medicine through the medical insurance without leaving home.