According to a resolution which will take effect on January 1, 2025, the Chinese government will gradually raise the retirement age over a period of 15 years. At the end of the process, male employees will see a rise from 60 to 63 and women working in blue-collar jobs will retire at 53, rather than 50. Women in white-collar jobs will now retire at 58, not 55.
The resolution stresses that later retirement should be implemented on a voluntary and flexible basis, with an individual employee’s pension varying with their final retirement age.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that by the end of 2023, China had 864.81 million workers aged from 16-59, 61.3 percent of the total, with those above 60 accounting for 296.97 million, 21.1 percent of the total. As China’s birth rate is declining rapidly, with a negative population growth since 2022, it is urgent to find ways to replenish the coffers of China’s pension fund.
The resolution proposes to gradually increase the minimum required payment term for pension contributions from 15 years to 20 years, 6 months a year, from the beginning of 2030.
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