China is expected to have 5.5 million nurses by 2025, up from 5.2 million from the end of last year, a senior health official said on Thursday, a day before International Nurses Day on May 12.

Xing Ruoqi, an official with the National Health Commission, said the number of nurses has grown by an average of 8 percent year-on-year in the past decade, with around 300,000 new nurses added each year.

The country will take forceful measures to safeguard the rights and interests of nurses, improve working conditions, arrange for more rational shifts and care for their physical and mental health, she said at a news conference

More efforts will be made to train nurses in areas including senior care, pediatric department, intensive care, emergency and infectious diseases, Xing said.

As China had 280 million senior people aged 60 or above as of the end of last year, the need for medical nursing and long-term care for senior people is very urgent, she said.

Promoting the rapid development of senior medical care is an important part of the country's efforts to deal with an aging system, Xing said.

The commission will continue to increase the supply of senior nursing and long term nursing, train more nurses in the sector and improve the standard building of such service, she added.