BEIJING - China has more than 48,000 centenarians, said a survey published by the China Gerontological Society on Monday.

According to the survey, on July 1, the number of people over 100 years old living on the Chinese mainland stood at 48,921, an increase of 5,228 from last year's figure.

Luo Meizhen, a 126-year-old woman from south China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, defended her title as the oldest person on the mainland.

With a combined age of 213, the oldest couple is found in Guizhou province.

The average life expectancy of Chinese people is 73.5 years and the country's 12th Five-Year Program endeavors to increase that figure by one year in the next five years.