In rapidly ageing China, millions just cannot afford retirement

Growing old: Elderly people taking free classes in China. The country’s latest statistics show some 94 million working people – around 12.8% of its 734 million labour force – were older than 60 in 2022, up from 8.8% in 2020. — China Daily

HONG KONG: After three decades of selling homemade buns on the streets of the Chinese city of Xian, 67-year-old Hu Dexi would have liked to slow down.

Instead, Hu and his older wife have moved to the edge of Beijing, where they wake at 4am every day to cook their packed lunch, then commute for more than an hour to a downtown shopping mall, where they each earn 4,000 yuan (US$552) monthly, working 13-hour shifts as cleaners.