China will “gradually raise” its retirement age for the first time since the 1950s, as the country contends with an aging population and a dwindling pension budget, says the official Xinhua news agency.
Chinese lawmakers on Friday voted to adopt a decision on gradually raising the statutory retirement age in the country. According to the decision adopted at the 11th session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People’s Congress, the statutory retirement age for men will be gradually raised from 60 to 63 in the course of 15 years starting 2025, while that for women cadres and women blue-collar workers will be raised from 55 to 58 and from 50 to 55, respectively.
Starting 2030, the minimum year of basic pension contributions required to receive monthly benefits will be gradually raised from 15 years to 20 years at the pace of an increase of six months annually.
Meanwhile, people will be allowed to voluntarily retire by no more than three years in advance after reaching the minimum year of pension contributions. But it is not allowed to retire earlier than the previous statutory age.
The move comes as China is facing a declining birth rate. Meanwhile, its average life expectancy has risen to 78.2 years, officials said earlier this year.
This has created a confluence of crises in Xi Jinping’s China. A slowing economy, shrinking government benefits and a decades-long one-child policy have have added to current woes.
According to the plan passed on Friday, the change will set in from 1 January 2025, with the respective retirement ages raised every few months over the next 15 years, reported Chinese state media.
Starting 2030, employees will also have to make more contributions to the social security system in order to receive pensions. By 2039, they would have to clock 20 years of contributions to access their pensions.
