China reviews plan to raise retirement age

China's top legislative body, National People's Congress, reviewed a proposal to gradually increase the retirement age, the South China Morning Post reported. The retirement age for men is 60 while the retirement age for females in urban settings is 50 in blue-collar jobs and 55 in white-collar jobs.

China's top legislative body, the National People's Congress, reviewed a proposal to gradually increase the retirement age, the South China Morning Post reported. Notably, this development follows the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee's earlier indication of its intention to lift the statutory retirement age.

In the current scenario, the retirement age for men in urban areas is 60. Similarly, the retirement age for females in urban settings is 50 in blue-collar jobs and 55 in white-collar jobs. Notably, the retirement age in China has been in place since 1951 and is among the lowest in the world. Lawmakers on Tuesday discussed a "draft decision on the implementation of a gradual increase in the mandatory retirement age" submitted by the State Council, China's cabinet, the South China Morning Post reported, citing official news agency Xinhua.

Wang Xiaoping, the Human Resources and Social Security Minister, had presented the draft at the meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. The draft plan has not yet been made public. In July also, in a move to counter its rapidly ageing population and a severe pension funding crisis, China had expressed its intent to raise its statutory retirement age in a "voluntary and flexible" way.

However, the move planned by the CCP had received severe backlash from its citizens. The CCP, during its Third Plenum in July, had said, "In accordance with the principles of voluntariness and flexibility, [we] will steadily and orderly advance the reform of progressively delaying the statutory retirement age."

The Communist Party in its 2013's plenum had said that it has become necessary to "study and formulate" a policy to delay the retirement age. (ANI)

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