BEIJING - China has seen the first peak in its growing elderly population, which included 194 million senior citizens by the end of 2012, according to a report released Wednesday.

People aged 60 and over made up 14.3 percent of the country's total population last year, as the age group added 8.91 million people year on year, said the report released by the China Research Center on Aging.

The elderly population will exceed 200 million in 2013 and account for 14.8 percent of the total population, said Wu Yushao, director of the research center.

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