China to raise retirement age as it faces demographic crisis and low birth rate

Elderly people rest at a park in Fuyang in eastern China's Anhui province. The country would gradually raise its statutory retirement age. — AFP

CHINA would gradually raise its statutory retirement age, as the country grapples with a looming demographic crisis and an ageing population. Hundreds of millions of people in China are set to enter old age in the coming decades while the birth rate dwindles dramatically.

The national population fell in 2023 for the second year in a row, with policymakers and experts warning of severe impacts on the economy, healthcare and social welfare systems if action is not taken.