China can’t just rely on boosting births to address aging population points, Renmin University professor says

BEIJING — China can’t just rely on growing childbirths to address its aging population points, stated Du Peng, vice principal of Renmin University of China.

Regardless of what number of youngsters are born in China, the variety of people who find themselves aged 60 and above will roughly double to greater than 500 million within the yr 2050, he instructed reporters throughout a chat on Wednesday.

To decrease the financial impression of such population adjustments, he stated policymakers can take motion immediately: by elevating the retirement age, bettering insurance coverage protection and growing retirees’ social participation, amongst different measures.

Du is director of the college’s Institute of Gerontology, which suggests relating to the aged. He can be a member of the knowledgeable committee for China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs.

China’s population development has slowed as births drop and lifespans enhance. In the final ten years, Beijing has began to unwind strict insurance policies that for about three a long time had restricted households to one little one every.

High schooling and housing prices, particularly within the large cities the place extra jobs are positioned, has additionally discouraged households from having youngsters.

Many international locations with related conditions additionally face aging population points, by which a shrinking youthful workforce has to help a bigger portion of the population.

Du stated Wednesday he pays shut consideration to how different international locations — significantly Ireland and France — are addressing aging population points. He additionally stated China was growing communication with South Korean and Japanese students on the subject.

It wasn’t till 2018, whereas visiting Singapore, that he stated he was requested for the primary time about China’s expertise in dealing with aging population points.

The nation faces a novel state of affairs by which a good portion of its aged reside in rural areas as a substitute of cities, Du identified.