(China Economic Roundtable) China Focus: Raising retirement age a proactive response to population aging

BEIJING, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- China's move to raise its statutory retirement age is a proactive and effective measure tackling the challenge of population aging, according to guest speakers at the China Economic Roundtable, an all-media talk platform hosted by Xinhua News Agency.

According to a decision adopted by Chinese lawmakers on Friday, the statutory retirement age will be gradually raised from 60 to 63 for men over the course of 15 years from 2025, from 55 to 58 for women working as cadres, and from 50 to 55 for women who are blue-collar workers.

China's current statutory retirement age was set in the 1950s and has remained unchanged for more than seven decades.

Over the years, profound changes have been seen in the country's average life expectancy, health conditions, demographic structure, education level, and relationship between labor supply and demand, Qi Tao, an official of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, said at the roundtable.

Raising the statutory retirement age can mitigate China's declining working-age population and sustain the momentum and vitality of social and economic development, said Zhao Zhong, dean of the School of Labor and Human Resources at Renmin University of China.

Following the decision, people will be allowed to voluntarily retire by no more than three years in advance after reaching the minimum year of pension contributions.

The basic principle of delaying retirement is voluntary participation with flexibility, which aims mainly to meet the diverse needs of workers, according to Qi.

He said that retirement age will be expanded into a flexible range following the reform, demonstrating the country's full respect for people's individual plans.

The document also includes provisions for specialized professions, allowing those in labor-intensive jobs or working in difficult environments such as high temperatures or high altitudes to apply for earlier retirement.

While using the statutory retirement age as a benchmark, policymakers have also taken into account the labor conditions and working environments of different industries and positions to make targeted arrangements for special groups, said Yuan Xin, vice president of the China Population Association and a professor at Nankai University.

Friday's decision also stipulates that the minimum number of years of basic pension contributions required to receive monthly retirement benefits will be raised gradually from 15 years to 20 years, starting from 2030.

The adjustment has factored in multiple elements, including the labor market, more years of schooling, the older age at which people are now joining the workforce, and policy consistency, Zhao said.

Guest speakers also shared their insights on how delaying retirement would affect employment among different age groups.

The reform will be carried out gradually and modestly, and its impact on youth employment will be moderate, said Zheng Bingwen, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

As young people now have higher levels of education and a competitive edge in the digital economy, the green economy and future industries, measures should be devised to create more suitable jobs and expand new employment space, Zhao said.

On the protection of elderly individuals, Zhao noted that the decision stipulates that the basic interests and rights of workers should be ensured if employers hire people who have passed their statutory retirement age.

The current policies on employment and labor relations have yet to be specified further, Zheng said, noting that the improvement of supporting policies is a key task at present and will remain so for some time to come.

"The reform to delay retirement has a relatively long cycle and can't be accomplished overnight. There is still a lot of work to be done," Qi said. ■

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