China’s rust belt province gets old before it gets rich

China created a special fund in 2018 to shift pension funds from richer provinces like Guangdong to those facing deficits, but economists see that only as a stop-gap. — AFP

BEIJING: Wang Fengqin suffered from hunger in her youth, when Mao Zedong was running China, so it brings her joy to cook a nice dinner whenever her sons visit her in the rapidly depopulating northeastern village of Wudaogang.

“Come home to eat, mum can still afford to make you this meal,” the 70-year-old retired farmer said, recalling how their phone calls usually start, as she took a break from chopping cabbage in her wood-fired kitchen.