A resident is attended by a nurse at a care home in Xi'an. (Photo: Xinhua)

BEIJING, July 30 (Xinhua) -- China's health authority on Thursday started a nationwide pilot network, providing integrated elderly care and medical services to the country's aging population.

The network offers distance services, including telemedicine, chronic-disease management, follow-up medicine delivery, guidance on caregiving, and medical lectures, said the National Health Commission.

More than 5,400 medical institutions on the Chinese mainland have been connected to the network.