Mass immigration best solution for a graying China

Chinese workers may soon have to work just a little bit longer.

In late July 2024, China’s ruling Communist Party adopted a resolution that would see the country’s statutory retirement age gradually rise over the next five years.

The final retirement age has not been specified, but an earlier official report suggests it is likely to end up at around 65 years old.

This would put the country more in line with other large economies. At present, China has among the lowest retirement ages in the world at 60 for men and 55 for women in white-collar jobs – or 50 if the women are in blue-collar jobs.

Party leaders have mulled reforming China’s retirement plan for several years. But the apparent urgency now reflects growing concern over the impact that a shrinking – and aging – population will have on the country’s dwindling pension pot.

Funds set aside to cover retirement costs in China look set to be completely used up by 2035, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences projected just a few years ago.

Raising the retirement age will no doubt stretch funds for a few extra years.

But it will not be a permanent fix – and it does nothing to address the serious underlying demographic problems that China faces.

I have studied China’s population for over 40 years; I believe the demographic issue confronting China now represents one of the most serious problems facing the country in centuries.

With a fertility rate of 1.1 children per woman – way below the 2.1 births per woman needed to maintain a native population – and more deaths each year than births, China’s future is one of declining population, with an enormous increase in the numbers of elderly.

Compounding the problem, China has long been hostile to the idea of supplementing its