China Boosts Social Security Fund to Support Aging Population

China plans to enhance its social security fund by 2.88 trillion yuan ($406 billion) to support its aging population. The National Social Security Fund aims to improve elderly care policies and address the upcoming retirement of 300 million individuals over the next decade. Fund strategies include expanding investments and ensuring financial transparency.

China is set to increase its social security fund by 2.88 trillion yuan ($406 billion) in a bid to support its aging population. This move aims to make the National Social Security Fund 'bigger and stronger' as new births decline and the younger workforce shrinks. Ding Xuedong, the fund's party secretary, emphasized the need to adapt to population aging and enhance elderly care policies in comments published by the Communist Party's Study Times.

Over the next decade, approximately 300 million Chinese will retire, nearly matching the entire U.S. population. By 2040, one in every two individuals over 65 in the Asia-Pacific region will reside in China, according to Euromonitor. The fund, established in 2000 as a 'strategic reserve for peak aging periods,' is now facing unprecedented challenges, Ding noted.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences projects that China's pension system could deplete its funds by 2035. To counteract this, the National Social Security Fund will boost and broaden pension fund investments, aiming for financial transparency and public trust. The fund will also increase long-term equity investments in strategic sectors essential to the national economy and public welfare, with a particular focus on technological innovation and productivity.

(With inputs from agencies.)