BEIJING, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Vice Premier Sun Chunlan on Thursday called for greater efforts to put in place an elderly care system to help senior citizens live a happy life.

Sun gave the instructions in a research tour to Beijing's Changping District. While commending measures taken by Beijing municipal authorities in this regard, Sun said a combination of elderly care services that are based on families, supported by community-level institutions and supplemented by other elderly care centers is in line with the conditions and people's habits in China.

Sun noted that China is a country with more than 166 million elderly people aged above 65.

She underscored efforts to streamline policies to facilitate the entry of various forces of society into the elderly care areas and the integration of diverse elderly cares services available at communities and elderly care institutions.