Beijing will gradually raise China’s retirement age in the next 15 years, officials announced on Friday, as the country grapples with a quickly aging population after four decades of birth restrictions.
The decision, which represents the first major adjustment in 70 years, was approved by China’s rubber-stamp legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC), during its Standing Committee meeting on Friday morning.
According to the proposal released by Xinhua, the retirement age for male workers will increase from 60 to 63. The retirement age for female white-collar workers will increase from 55 to 58, while the retirement age for female blue-collar workers will increase from 50 to 55.
These changes will take effect gradually over the next 15 years, starting on Jan. 1, 2025.
Speaking at a press conference in Beijing, Wang Xiaoping, head of China’s Human Resources and Social Security Ministry, said the adjusted retirement age could “mitigate the declining trend in the working-age population” and “maintain the momentum and vitality of economic and social development.”
“As life expectancy has risen to the current 78.6 years from about 40 years in the 1950s, the rising retirement age allows for the optimal utilization of human resources,” Wang told reporters on Friday.
Amid declining fertility rates and lengthening life expectancies, Wang stated that the trend of population aging has become obvious.
David Huang, a U.S.-based economic researcher and commentator, said postponing the retirement age could ease the strain on China’s pension system.
The country’s main public pension system is at risk of depleting its funds within the next decade, according to projections by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a state-backed think tank. Despite state subsidies, a diminishing worker-to-retiree ratio is expected to result in a deficit of 118 billion yuan (about $16.7 billion) by 2028. The think tank calculated that this shortfall is projected to soar to 11 trillion yuan ($1.6 trillion) by 2050.
“Delaying retirement can allow more people to continue contributing [to the pension system], thereby addressing the urgent need,” Huang told The Epoch Times.
A recent graduate who just landed a job at a state-backed bank expressed concerns that the policy could worsen the already high youth unemployment rate.
“The policy may lead to more senior people continuing to occupy job positions, making it more difficult for young people to find jobs,” the Beijing resident, who declined to provide his name due to safety concerns, told The Epoch Times.
The news has sparked widespread discussion on China’s social media platform Weibo. Within hours after the official announcement, two related hashtags had become the platform’s top three most searched keywords on Friday afternoon.
People employed in state-backed companies or civil service voiced frustration that they had to stay at their jobs for a longer period of time.
Many shared anxieties about the possibility of authorities further increasing the retirement age by the time they reach it, if Beijing is still struggling to cope with the pension pressure.
“Still another 32 years before I can retire. Who knows what the future holds? Perhaps the retirement age will be gradually raised over the next couple of decades,” a Weibo user wrote.
