China set up a training institute for workers with elderly people in Beijing on Friday, the first in Asia aiming to provide better quality service to senior citizens.

With funding support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Hualing International Training and Exchange Center on Ageing is a non-governmental organization set up by the China National Committee on Ageing (CNCA).

The center will provide training to workers working on old people's matters and consultation for Chinese and foreign governmental and non-governmental bodies, and individuals.

Chen Chuanshu, deputy director of CNCA, said at the launching ceremony Friday that the Hualing training center is in response to China's growing numbers of old people and the need for professional workers who can provide high quality services to the seniors.

Bernard Coquelin, resident representative of UNFPA in China, said, setting up the training center is in line with the UNFPA's strategy of building government ability and the principles of south-south cooperation.

About 35 representatives from China's governmental bodies and international organizations attended the launching ceremony and the seminar that followed.

Representatives from the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the All-China Women's Federation, the UNFPA, the Albanian Embassy in China, and the Help Age International were present.

(Xinhua News Agency November 22, 2008)