The 14th Five-Year Plan that China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security recently released states that over the next five years, China will see an additional 40 million retirees and 35 million fewer people of working age. This poses a huge challenge for the pension system. This means an average of 8 million additional retirees per year, far more than the 4.5 million added last year.
The government made it clear earlier this year that it would gradually postpone the mandatory retirement age, sparking widespread concerns. The official Xinhua News Agency quoted experts who stated that people born during the “baby boom” in 1963 will soon become 60, leading to a rapid decrease in pension contributions and a dramatic increase in the number of recipients. China’s legal retirement age has stayed unchanged for nearly 70 years. It is 60 for men, 55 for female officials, and 50 for female workers.
China’s seventh population census shows that, last year, the proportion of people over 65 years old reached 13.5 percent of the total population.
Source: Radio Free Asia, July 2, 2021
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/Xinwen/3-07022021104522.html