A 1. 6-meter tall robot may soon become the best friend for lonely elderly people,as Chinese scientists are making the final sprint toward its market launch ,said a senior researcher on the robot project on Saturday.      "We are working on testing the exact functions and ways to reduce the cost in preparations for an expected market launch of the robot in two to three years,"said Li Ruifeng,a member of  the project.        He said the team hoped to reduce the cost so that the robot can be priced at 30,000 to 50,000 yuan,which is expected to be an affordable price for most of China's better-off families.      The robot has been developed with the functions of fetching food,medicine,sounding alarms in case of water or gas leakage,sending texts or video images via wireless communications,and even singing a song or playing chess to entertain its masters.      Li said that the robot,developed independently in China, has technology at the same level as those in western labs.          China set about the research of the robot in 2007,when it was listed as a national key project. It is  _ by government funding . China has the world's largest elderly  population with 159 million people over 60,accounting for 12 percent of its total population.  According to a survey by the Ministry of Civil Affairs,more than 10 million caregivers and nurses are needed to attend the elderly population,as most of Chinese elderly prefer to live their retired lives at home. The passage mainly talked about_.
the problems of Chinese elderly population the advantages of the Robot caregivers robot caregivers for the elderly to lilt market the government's attention to the elderly