According to the standards set by the United Nations, a population becomes aged when people above aged 65 make 7% and over, or people of 60 and above make 10% and over, of the population. By the turn of the century, people of 60 and above had already made 10% of the Chinese population. This section of the population is still growing in the urban area at a fast pace. For example, people of 60 and above made 14% of the population in the city of Beijing in the year of 1997, among them, 8% were those who were 80 and above. According to the projection, the aged people will make 20.6% of the population of Beijing in the year of 2015, among them 13.5% will be aged 80 and above.

Statistics indicates that 70% of the elderly persons in the area of Beijing live on pension and in their own houses or apartments. One third of the elderly do not live under the same roof with their adult children. As they grow older, they need various kinds of social services in order to keep an independent living. Those who live with their adult children also face the situation in which their children are too busy to take good care of them. They also need help in everyday life from social service programs. It is under such pressure that the socialization of the old age support becomes a trend.

The demands of the aged population are multifarious. In order to satisfy the social demands of an aged population, social institutions of various kinds, including families, governments, businesses, communities, non-governmental organizations and nonprofit organizations, should collaborate in cultivating and allocating social resources. OCAN has now joined the effort through the currently advanced technology - the Internet.