October 1st marks both National Day of China and International Day of Older Persons. As part of the CGTN Health Talk program, information was presented about Rugao city, known as the 'City of World Longevity' in Jiangsu province, eastern China. In this region, approximately 31 people per 100,000 live to be one hundred years old, and the average life expectancy reaches 83.12 years.
Residents provide examples of this lifestyle: Gao Tingkuan, aged 105, wakes up at 5 am to buy groceries on a tricycle and cook for himself. 96-year-old Zhang Minde continues with household chores such as washing dishes, watering flowers, and cleaning. Local residents maintain good well-being through simple daily activities, including cleaning, listening to audiobooks, tea drinking, and playing ball with friends, demonstrating a 'proactive health' approach.
Michael Levitt, a Nobel laureate in Chemistry in 2013 and a professor at Stanford University, noted that healthspan is a complex issue shaped by social and behavioral aspects, as well as lifestyle changes. He emphasized that some factors influencing healthspan are not medical but related to lifestyle: proper nutrition, moderate alcohol consumption, non-smoking, spending time in nature, physical activity, and having friends.
Levitt made these remarks during an exclusive CGTN interview at the Conference on Joint Innovations in Disease Prevention and Translational Achievements in 2026.
A team from Siam University has been studying anti-aging methods for over ten years. Their latest findings indicate that a gut microbe product called lithocholic acid may activate a pathway associated with a longer and healthier life. The research is led by Lin Shengcai, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Lin's team studied why hunger triggers genes related to longevity. It was found that mice fed 70% of their normal diet showed more than a tenfold increase in lithocholic acid levels after a fasting period. This substance promoted the repair of muscle damage and increased endurance in elderly mice, extending the animals' lifespan by approximately 5% in longevity tests.
Ren Yuan, a professor at the Institute of Population Studies, Fudan University, considers increased life expectancy a positive phenomenon. He argues that people are not only creators of wealth but also custodians of social order and participants in a functioning society. In his view, the growth of human longevity reflects broader social progress, which is largely driven by scientific and technological advancements aimed at improving economic development, strengthening healthcare systems, and enhancing social well-being—the foundations of human life and health.