China decided to increase this Friday the retirement age up to five years due to the increasing pressure from its aging population and an economy showing symptoms of recession.
The new regulation establishes that Men will retire at 63instead of the current age of 60, while office workers will do so at 58, compared to 55 previously.
The Standing Committee of the National People’s Assembly (ANP, Legislative) approved the measure on Friday after warnings that Pension system could run out of funds by 2035, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
In the case of the the workers, retirement age will increase from 50 to 55 yearsaccording to official sources.
This adjustment aims to ease pressure on the pension system by delaying payments and allowing older workers to continue contributing to the economy.
Additionally, this should alleviate the decline in numberswhich has fallen by 40 million over the past decade, to 879 million in 2020, according to the latest official figures.
Director of the Chinese Academy of Labor and Social Security, Mo Rongsaid in the official Diario del Pueblo that the decision was a “an inevitable choice” so that the country can adapt to its new demographic reality.
THE low birth rate This reduces the total population, which could fall to 1.3 billion by 2050 and to less than 800 million by 2100, according to UN estimates.
With a life expectancy of 78.6 years old in 2023 and a negative natural growth rate (-1.48 per thousand inhabitants), citing a report published by the National Health Commission of the Asian giant, raising the retirement age is considered crucial for mitigate the reduction in labor supply and ease pressure on the pension system, experts say, adding that this reflects global practices in developed countries.
These measures are part of a broader package of reforms that includes other recently presented initiatives, such as recommendations to promote marriage and childbirth at an “appropriate age” in response to the challenges of an aging population.
The announcement follows the proposal made at the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in July, which stressed the need to adapt to current demographic challenges, such as an aging population and low birth rate.
