Ageing population a worry, Xi holds review

Beijing, May 29 

Grappling with the world’s biggest senior citizen population, China’s President Xi Jinping held a high-level meeting with officials after the number of people above 60 years in the world’s most populous country crossed 220 million, 16 per cent of the total population.

Xi, who heads the Communist Party of China (CPC) along with the members of the powerful Politburo of the party, attended a group study on the “state and future of a graying society” yesterday, a report said. CPC leaders hold such group studies to hold in-depth discussions on critical issues to work out appropriate policies.

The meeting was held as the latest figures showed that the population above 60 years has crossed 220 million people constituting 16 per cent of the total population, far sooner than expected.

Chinese capital is already feeling the heat with numbers of pensioners climbing up to 23.4 per cent of the total 22 million population. By 2020, the city will pay out 200 billion yuan in old-age pensions and the amount is expected to surge to 670 billion in 2030, Li Hongbing, deputy head of the Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau.  — PTI