A sculpture of the God of Longevity in the city of Rugao in Jiangsu Province. [File Photo: dfic]

Rugao, a city renowned for the longevity of its residents in east China's Jiangsu Province, recorded 403 centenarians at the end of 2017, according to the city's civil affairs bureau.

This marked a yearly increase of 18 centenarians in the city, it added.

With a population of 1.43 million, the city had 89 male centenarians and 314 women aged 100 or older at the end of 2017, 24 of whom were older than 105 and four older than 110, according to the statistics.

The oldest among them was 113 years old.

Healthy eating and sleeping habits as well as a favorable environment are believed to have contributed to the longevity in Rugao.