China faces the problem of aging population more than any other country, with
the number of people above 60 expected to cross 400 million by 2045, political
advisors warned over the weekend.
China is "already the only country with an aging population of more than 100
million, and their number is growing even faster", said Zheng Silin, deputy
director of the Subcommittee of Population, Resources and Environment of the
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee.
By the end of 2005, there were 144 million people aged 60 and above, or 11
per cent of the total population. This figure is likely to triple in less than
40 years, a process that could take hundreds of years in many other countries.
"Even worse, since we have just become a moderately rich country our finance
resources are quite limited," said Zheng, who is also former minister of labor
and social security.
"The centrally planned economic system from 1949 till the late 1970s didn't
have a provision for any pension fund, and that created a heavy burden for the
government today."
Senior citizens in rural areas face even more difficulties because of the
backward economic development and long-term urban-rural, dual structure, he
said.
Yang Kuifu, another deputy director and former vice-minister of the National
Population and Family Planning Commission, said: "Little social security system
has been set up in the countryside Only a small number of pilot endowment
insurance projects started in the early 1990s exist, and they rely on individual
farmers' budgets. And though they are continuing, they need adjustments."
The traditional family-based old-age support system, too, was facing
challenges, Yang said, asking governments at various levels to shoulder their
responsibilities and help elderly farmers.
Besides the mammoth fund burden, aging population has also created other
social pressures, including the rising demand for healthcare.
Zheng said medical resources needed to take care of senior citizens were
three times, or even more, than that of other age groups. But despite all the
difficulties, he and other officials assured the elderly that they would be
cared for.
Last year, 46 million senior citizens received pensions worth more than 500
billion yuan ($62.7 billion).
In the Government Work Report delivered to the National People's Congress on
March 5, Premier Wen Jiabao said this year the central government would spend
201.9 billion yuan ($25.5 billion) on social security, that is, 24.7 billion
($3.3 billion) more than last year.
"The government budgets for endowment and healthcare insurance are
increasing, and the strategic pension reserves have gone up by another 270
billion yuan ($33.8 billion). All these will contribute ultimately to the well
being of the senior citizens," Zheng said.
Progress has been made in cooperative healthcare pilot programs in rural
areas since 2003. They had been extended to 1,451 counties by the end of last
year, covering 410 million of the 900 million rural residents.
Last year, the country launched a nationwide pension and subsidy scheme for
families with one child or two daughters in rural areas because they are not as
"lucky" as those with sons to rely on when they get old.
Each of the 1.8 million rural couples received 1,200 yuan ($152) last year.
Farmers welcomed the policy because the money often was a relief in areas where
people have little income, except for the crops they grow.
The government's family planning policy is a necessity because the Chinese
mainland would have faced "more urgent and more serious problems" had it not
been implemented.
It's necessary to apply the reverse mortgage method gradually to supplement
the shortfall of pension funds, which means senior citizens would have to
mortgage their property to financial institutions that would then provide
monthly payments.
But before the method is applied many preparatory issues, such as related
laws, evaluation system and calculating the impact on the real estate market,
have to be studied properly, Zheng said.
(China Daily 03/12/2007 page2)
