However, the planned increase will extend over a long period of time, as Xinhua further quoted from the government decision. The increase is to begin in 2025 and be completed 15 years later, i.e. in 2040. Those who want to work even longer can do so and make appropriate agreements with their employer, it said.
The minimum number of years of employment to receive an old-age pension is also to be gradually increased by six months per year from 2030 to 20 years – it is currently 15 years. The retirement age in China has not been adjusted for decades.
Back in July, the ruling Communist Party announced that the retirement age would be increased in a “voluntary and flexible manner”. The aim is to counteract demographic change. In China, there are more and more older people and fewer and fewer young people working. The birth rate has been falling for some time, and last year the country’s population shrank for the second year in a row. According to the government, the high and growing proportion of older people threatens to have serious consequences for the country’s economy, health care and social systems if countermeasures are not taken.
