Residents in China's capital now have an average life expectancy of 79.6 years, ranking first across the country, according to the nation's first report on urban life quality.

The report, released recently by the Beijing International Research Institute of Urban Development (BIRIUD), says that the urban life expectancy in Beijing was 26.8 years higher than the 52.8-year level at the beginning of the 1950s.

The change is attributable to health care improvement and the high coverage of social welfare in Beijing, Lian Yuming, head of the BIRIUD.

There are now in Beijing 998 hospitals and 110,000 doctors and nurses, with 4.2 doctors for every 1,000 citizens.

In the city, 4.5 million people are covered by urban pension insurance, and 4.36 million and 30.66 million by medical and unemployment insurance respectively, Lian added.

Another factors behind the higher life expectancy in China's capital are the increasing income of local residents.

Official statistics show that in the first eight months this year, the per-capita disposable income of urban residents in Beijing amounted to 1,169.9 yuan (144.3 US dollars), up 12.6 percent year-on-year. Spending on home buying, foodstuff, medical and health care, entertainment and education and cultural services has risen substantially.

(Xinhua News Agency September 28, 2005)