China raises retirement age amid aging population, dwindling pension

China has raised the retirement age for the first time in 70 years as the country grapples with the consequences of ageing population and a dwindling pension budget.China will "gradually raise" its retirement age for the first time since the 1950s.The top legislative body on Friday approved proposals to raise the statutory retirement age from 50 to 55 for women in blue-collar jobs, and from 55 to 58 for females in white-collar jobs. Men will see an increase from 60 to 63. China's current retirement ages are among the lowest in the world. The change will set in from 1 January 2025, with the respective retirement ages raised every few months over the next 15 years, said Chinese state media.
It said the retirement age would be gradually raised over 15 years from 2025, adding that from 2030, workers would need to make a minimum of 20 years of basic pension contributions instead of the current 15. The new rules will allow Chinese people "to postpone retirement to an even later date if they reach an agreement with employers", Xinhua said.State media said the move was based on a "comprehensive assessment of the average life expectancy, health conditions, the population structure, the level of education and workforce supply".
Hundreds of millions of people in China are set to enter old age in the coming decades while the birth rate dwindles dramatically.The national population fell in 2023 for the second year in a row, with policymakers and experts warning of severe impacts on the economy, healthcare and social welfare systems if action is not taken. People over 60 are expected to make up nearly a third of China's population by 2035, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, a research group. Meanwhile, the country's fertility rate has fallen far below the level required to keep the population stable, despite recent relaxations of the notorious "one-child" policy and official efforts to stimulate births.