China will raise the statutory retirement age gradually over the next 15 years in the first such move in 70 years, the official Xinhua News Agency reported late last week.
Chinese employees will also have to make pension contributions for a longer period in order to qualify for monthly retirement benefits.
Starting next year and through to 2040, the retirement age for men will be raised from 60 to 63 years, and from 50 to 55 years for women in blue collar jobs .The retirement age for professional female staff of the Chinese Communist Party will also be increased from 55 to 58 years.
Beijing will allow people to delay retirement for three more years if they reach an agreement with their employers.
The decision to raise the retirement age was based on “comprehensive assessment of the average life expectancy, health conditions, the population structure, the level of education and workforce supply in China”, Xinhua reported on September 13.
The move comes as a longer life expectancy poses a challenge to the sustainability of China’s pension system. Earlier this year, the state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences forecast that the state pension system may dry up by 2035 without further pension reform.
Government figures show that the average life expectancy increased from 75.14 years to 77.64 years in the ten years to 2023. The United Nations has projected that the figure will reach 81.82 years in 2050.
Meanwhile, employees will have to make minimum basic pension contributions for 20 years instead of the current 15 years to receive retirement benefits. This will be implemented twice a year starting in 2030.
