China population: Beijing hoping for ‘appropriate’ 2021 fertility level as demographic challenges mount

Premier Li Keqiang said that China would ‘work to achieve an appropriate’ fertility level while delivering the government work report at the National People’s Congress

Last year, the national social security fund, which includes pensions as well as insurance coverage for medical, unemployment and work-related injuries, ran at a deficit of 671 billion yuan (US$104 billion)

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Apart from increasing the coverage of basic pensions, the government also said it would increase the number of beds in 1,000 publicly owned nursing homes and convert around 200 training centres into elderly care facilities. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 6:31pm, 5 Mar 2021Updated: 6:34pm, 5 Mar 2021

China’s perceived vague call for an “appropriate” fertility level this year is viewed as the best the government could say while it awaits the preliminary results from the population census in April with the country facing a growing demographic challenge.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Friday said that China would “work to achieve an appropriate” fertility level while delivering the government work report at the National People’s Congress in Beijing.

Li also confirmed China would gradually extend China’s retirement ages, while also ensuring 95 per cent of its citizens would have access to a basic pension.

For more than four decades, China’s retirement age has remained unchanged at 60 for men and 55 for women, although it can be earlier for women in blue-collar jobs.

If the goal is set too low, it’s easy to misread the policy. If it’s set too high, it will be a joke if it sounds impossible to accomplish

Yi Fuxian

China is also planning to build more facilities for the elderly and children over the next five years, explained Li.