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China Gets Old Before Getting Rich

China has become an aging country well before it has become affluent, creating great pressure for the country s policy-makers as well as society.

An official with the Ministry of Civil Affairs said Chinas over-60 population totals 134 million, or more than 10% of total population, and the number of people over 65 has reached 94 million, or 7% of the country s 1.3 billion.

Chinas current per capita gross domestic product (GDP) stands at about US$1,000. Some developed countries in Europe and North America recorded US$5,000 to US$10,000 in per capita GDP at the time they were classified as aging countries, said the official.

The official said China s aging population is growing at an average rate of 3.2 percent, and it will approach 400 million by the middle of this century, about 26.5 percent of the total. Experts have said China is in urgent need of a pension system for senior citizens, and during the 18 years between 1982 and 2000, Chinas expenditure for the aging population rose 37.4 times, including payment of pensions for retired employees.

According to figures from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, about 150 million people are now covered by the country s newly-built pension system, 7 million more than 2002.