BEIJING, May 27 (AFP) - A 60-year-old retiree has become the oldest woman in China to give birth, bearing twins after becoming pregnant via in-vitro fertilisation, state media reported Thursday.

The woman, whose real name was not given, gave birth to the two baby girls prematurely on Tuesday in Hefei, capital of the eastern province of Anhui, the official China Daily said.

The births came 34 weeks after she became impregnated to ease the pain caused by the death of her 28-year-old daughter, Tingting, who died in a "gas poisoning" incident early last year along with her husband, it said.

"Their cry resembles my late daughter," she was quoted as saying after the birth were born via Caesarean section.

"The girls give me and my husband the courage to live on. Despite the fact that we are old, we have the confidence to bring them up."

After Tingting's death, friends and relatives urged the woman to have another baby and she decided to try in-vitro fertilisation.

Her husband was initially against the idea but finally agreed, reluctantly, the report said.

They travelled to Beijing last May to meet gynaecology experts, most of whom thought her chances of becoming pregnant were extremely slim.

When she returned to Hefei, Cheng started taking daily medication and injections, and became pregnant after an in-vitro fertilisation procedure last October.

The two girls were in stable condition in incubators, the report said.

There have been numerous recent reports of women having babies later in life thanks to advances in assisted reproductive technology.

Two Indian women are believed to have become the world's eldest mothers in 2008 after they both gave birth at the age of 70 via in-vitro fertilisation.