Don’t Panic, Be Healthy

May 23-2019   

A recent report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences predicted that by 2035 China’s pension fund would near complete depletion. How precarious is the issue for the ones born in the 1980s-1990s?

With this question and many more, China Business Journal interviewed NSD Prof. Lei Xiaoyan, Director of Center for Healthy Aging and Development Studies (CHADS) at Peking University. Despite the demographic evolution and the economic slowdown, Prof. Lei remains optimistic about China's fiscal budget and pension fund, primarily because of the constant improvement in productivity. It will also help, she says, if state-owned assets are to be allocated to the pension fund and at the same time the pension fund manage to achieve a higher return in investment.

Nowadays the young people can expect to be in healthier state in retirement than their parents, which can effectively reduce the need for support, not to mention their preference to live on their own and the emergence of robots to their assistance. South Korean and Japan offer good examples for China to learn from.

Prof. Lei also notes some socializing activities of Chinese elderlies, such as square dance and Tai Chi, for both physical and psychological wellness. In retirement, money might not talk as loudly as health.