China moves to raise retirement age to ease labor and pension concerns

Aging population, declining birth rate strain social security system

20240807 Caixin P1

The number of people aged 60 and older has risen from 126 million in 2000 to 297 million in 2023, doubling their share of the population.

ZHOU XINDA, XU WEN, TANG YANYU, JIANG MOTING, CUI XIAOTIAN, HUANG HUIZHAO and HAN WEI, Caixin

After more than a decade as a recurring tea-time conversation topic, the delay in retirement is nearing reality in China, set to impact over 500 million workers as the country grapples with a rapidly aging population.

The five-year reform blueprint, released last month following a key Communist Party gathering, includes a commitment to raise the retirement age. According to the resolution adopted at the Third Plenum of the party's 20th Central Committee, China will gradually increase the statutory retirement age based on the principle of "voluntary participation with appropriate flexibility."

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