China to raise retirement age to tackle ageing population

With spike in ageing population, China is now scrambling for damage-control by finding out ways to tackle the imminent crisis. In this quest, Beijing is now planning to raise its retirement age gradually and in phases, country's state media outlet Global Times reported on Tuesday quoting a senior expert from China's Ministry of Human Resources.

Jin Weigang, president of the Chinese Academy of Labor and Social Security Sciences, said China was aiming to have a "progressive, flexible and differentiated path to raising the retirement age."This suggested that the retirement age will initially be delayed for just a couple of months however, it can later be increased in phases.

"People nearing retirement age will only have to delay retirement for several months," Jin said."The most important feature of the reform is allowing people to choose when to retire according to their circumstances and conditions."

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But there has been no official announcement on the same and things are still in the pipeline as the country find its way to implement the new norms and changes in the face of shrinking youth working population.

Currently, China's retirement age stands at 60 for men and 55 for white-collar women. Meanwhile, the retirement age for for women working in factories is 50 years.Li Qiang, who took over the reins of China's new premiere on Saturday, is already embarking to tackle the country's economic challenges, both domestic and international.

He is a close ally of the Chinese President Xi Jinping and is expected to achieve a shake up of the country's slumbering economy.Li on Monday said that the China will follow an analyticalapproach before it rolls out any policy. China's 1.4 billion population is the largest in the world, even though as per reports India will overcome China in terms of population in 2023.

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China's now scrapped one-child policy, which was in place from 1980 to 2015, also proved to be a significant setback for the country as its implementation led to a fall in population. Now, as the nation's ageing population increases the country is also coming under pressure for pension budgets. Paying pensions to the spiking ageing population is not seen as a sustainable approach.

A total of 31 provinces are fronting the issue of pension budget deficit. The situation is so dire that as per the data by the state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences the pension system will run out of money by 2035. Now, the policymakers are thinking on their feet to address the crippling issue that has marred the nation in recent years.

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Country's life expectancy has also risen from around 44 years in 1960 to 78 years as of 2021. This is higher than in the US and is projected to exceed 80 years by 2050.

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