April 2023
12Apr

China. Personal pension system holds room for more development

China's latest attempt at launching a personal pension system will result in the leapfrogging development of securities firms both in terms of additional income and business models, said experts. In mid-April 2022, the State Council, China's Cabinet, rolled out a plan to introduce the personal pension system. Thereafter, the multilayered system has begun to develop in China, comprising basic pension insurance, annuities and personal pensions. The plan officially kicked off in late November, with people in 36 Chinese cities and regions...

April 12, 2023
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March 2023
31Mar

Chinese cities are so broke, they’re cutting medical benefits for seniors

China's government, strapped for cash after years of enforcing a costly zero-Covid policy, is cutting medical benefits and planning to raise the retirement age, in deeply unpopular moves that are fueling widespread public anger. Thousands of elderly people have been taking to the streets since January to protest big cuts to monthly medical benefit payments. They've gathered in four major cities across the country, demanding local officials reverse the decisions. The changes are part of a national overhaul mainly intended to...

March 31, 2023
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28Mar

China’s Cities Are Buried in Debt, but They Keep Shoveling It On

China has long pursued growth by public spending, even after the payoff has faded. Cities stuck with the bill are still spending — and cutting essential services. In 2015, when Shangqiu, a municipality in central China, laid out a plan for the next two decades, it positioned itself as a transportation hub with a sprawling network of railways, highways and river shipping routes. By the end of 2020, Shangqiu had built 114 miles of high-speed rail, and today several national railways...

March 28, 2023
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14Mar

China to raise retirement age to deal with aging population – media

China is planning to raise its retirement age gradually and in phases to cope with the country's rapidly aging population, the state-backed Global Times said on Tuesday, citing a senior expert from China's Ministry of Human Resources. Jin Weigang, president of the Chinese Academy of Labor and Social Security Sciences, said China was eyeing a "progressive, flexible and differentiated path to raising the retirement age", meaning that it would be delayed initially by a few months, which would be subsequently...

March 14, 2023
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06Mar

China’s big dilemma: What to do about an aging nation

China’s population decline, which the Chinese government officially confirmed in January, has led many observers to wonder if the country’s current demographic trends threaten its stability. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s population shrank last year for the first time in 60 years, nine years earlier than government projections had anticipated. The fertility rate (births per woman) fell to 1.0-1.1, well below the official forecast of 1.8. Most notably, the number of births dropped sharply to 9.56 million,...

March 6, 2023
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February 2023
28Feb

Over 24 million individual pension accounts opened in China

More than 24 million individual pension accounts have been opened since China announced the implementation of its private pension plan to supplement the country's old-age insurance mechanism in November last year, the country's banking and insurance regulator said. The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said that the banking and insurance institutions have been introducing savings, wealth management products, commercial pension insurance, and other financial products for individual pension account holders. Under the private pension plan, applicants can open their own...

February 28, 2023
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13Feb

China. Legislative steps being taken to protect elderly

China's legislature has accelerated the creation of legislation aimed at the elderly over the past few years in a bid to bolster protection and respond to a rapidly aging population. The latest National Bureau of Statistics data showed that by the end of last year, China's population aged 60 and above exceeded 280 million, making up 19.8 percent of the national total. The National Health Commission estimates that this figure will grow to over 400 million by 2035, accounting for more...

February 13, 2023
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08Feb

China to offer free fertility treatment in bid to boost record low birth rate

China is planning to offer free fertility treatment to citizens under its national insurance scheme in a bid to reverse its plummeting birth rate. The National Healthcare Security Administration said on Friday it would extend its coverage to help shoulder the costs for families trying to conceive. It said the new coverage would include assisted reproductive technology (ART) techniques and also cover labor analgesia to ease pain in childbirth. The most commonly performed ART procedure is in vitro fertilization (IVF). The administration...

February 8, 2023
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January 2023
26Jan

China. ‘Silver’ economy grows with aging population

After saying goodbye to her grandchild at the school gates, Hu Chunmei started to think of ways to pass the day. Hu migrated from her home village in Hubei province to Beijing to help her daughter with child-rearing about eight years ago. Since her granddaughter started school in August, she knew she had to adjust to a new routine. "It's much harder than I thought. I tried guangchangwu — a style of dancing as a group in public — with friends...

January 26, 2023
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23Jan

Switzerland. Thousands of retired seniors falling into poverty

In Switzerland a huge wealth gap exists among retirees. While most senior citizens can comfortably make ends meet, one in five is living either below or close to the poverty line. Some 50,000 pensioners have no financial cushion to offset their low income. Bernard and Pierrette Apothéloz are both in their early 70s. With their meagre pensions and no savings or additional benefits, the couple often struggle to pay their bills. Because of their financial situation, they are unable to...

January 23, 2023
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