China at 'crucial juncture' as ageing crisis to worsen in next decade: Report

China is set to confront the worsening problem of an ageing society over the next decade, said a Chinese demographer. Du Peng, vice-president of Renmin University of China, has said that the problem is going to add more strain to the state pension fund, care for senior citizens and other medical services.

The current trends with the Chinese population project that by the year 2050, the number of senior citizens in China would be 520 million, Du said, as quoted by South China Morning Post. This will amount to 37.8 per cent of the population.

“The coming decade from now on is the most crucial juncture for China to actively respond to the aging population,” Du said in an interview with Tencent Finance last week.

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SCMP report said that though Beijing has acknowledged demographic challenges before the country, concrete measures to tackle the situation are yet to be introduced.

The problems China faces include low birth rate other than a fast ageing society. Chinese government in May reportedly vowed "high-quality development" of its population.

China is also struggling to boost its growth in post-pandemic world just when its demographic dividend is vanishing. The current labour force is large but both ends of the demographic curve are much smaller.

SCMP reported that in 2020, pension overtook family support for the first time as main source of income for China's elderly population. Du Peng has underlined this to be an "active signal"

In 2022, China said that it will gradually push back retirement ages - 60 for men, 55 for female office workers while 50 for female blue-collar workers. However, there hasn't been any timetable for release of such policy.

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In China, the urban worker pension fund is the backbone of country's state pension system. It was earlier predicted that it would run out of money by 2035 because of decline in the available work force. The falling number of workers would increase the gap between contributions and outlay increases.

Du Peng reportedly added that population of elderly citizens in China will equal to that of all developed countries by 2030. As per an estmate by China's National Health Commission says that by the year 2040, China will have 402 million people aged over 60.

According to World Health Organization, one in six people in the world will be over the age of 60 by 2030. And by the year 2050, about 2.1 billion people worldwide will be over the age of 60.

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