Turning nation's aging challenge into opportunity

China's 15th Five-year Plan (2026-30), when it gets underway next year, will mark a significant shift in how the country handles its aging population, reframing the elderly from being a social welfare challenge to treating aging as a strategic economic opportunity formalized under long-term care insurance, private pension reform and the silver economy.

China has 310 million people aged 60 and above, accounting for 22 percent of the total population, among whom 220 million are aged 65 and above, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Life expectancy during the period of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) reached 79 years, an increase of 1.07 years from 2020 and five years higher than the global average.

The recently released recommendations for the 15th Five-Year Plan by the Communist Party of China have urged the government to improve the national pooling system for basic pension insurance and to step up efforts to develop multilevel and multi-pillar pension insurance so as to progressively increase people's basic retirement income.

The recommendations highlighted the importance of positively dealing with the nation's aging issue by optimizing the basic services for the elderly, renovating public infrastructure and making it barrier-free and elderly-friendly, and popularizing long-term care insurance.

The government was urged to implement the policy of raising the retirement age reliably and to loosen age restrictions for employment and social insurance to better develop the senior workforce and promote the silver economy.

A December 2024 report by the China Association of Social Welfare and Senior Service and the Institution of Contemporary Social Service said the silver economy accounts for 7 trillion yuan ($996.1 billion) in China, roughly 6 percent of the nation's GDP. The number is expected to reach 30 trillion yuan in 2035 and take up 10 percent of the GDP.

During the period of the 14th Five-Year Plan, the basic elderly services network was optimized and more people joined the senior workforce.

Experts have called for the government to continue to enrich elderly services and offer a more sound insurance system and stronger working rights protection for the senior workers over the next five years.