Beijing residents’ life expectancy reached 82.03 years in 2016, which is higher than the 80.8 years average of high-income countries and regions in the world, according to Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Family planning, Beijing News reported on Oct. 16.

Beijingers' life expectancy is only lower than 13 countries and regions in the world, including Iceland, Japan, and Switzerland, according to the commission.

The increase of 4.57 years between 2000 and 2016 is mainly attributed to the lower mortality rate among the city’s middle aged and elderly, said Yu Jianping at the Beijing Center for Diseases Prevention and Control.

Commission Spokesperson Gao Xiaojun said Beijing has made great efforts in the past few years to prevent chronic diseases, promote healthy lifestyles, and strengthen public health literacy.

Gao disclosed that the number of smokers in Beijing dropped to 4 million from 4.2 million since a smoking ban was introduced in the city in 2015, adding that various smoking cessation services will also be launched in the future.

Moreover, the city has provided free screening and intervention for cerebral apoplexy and other chronic diseases for residents aged 45 and older since 2010.

More fitness facilities will be built in the city, free for students, the elderly, and disabled to use in order to increase people’s health literacy, according to Gao.

According to the commission’s “Healthy Beijing 2030” plan, Beijing residents’ life expectancy will exceed 83.4 years by 2030.