China: CPC: Steadily Advancing the Gradual Delay of the Legal Retirement Age Reform

Author: Carol Zhu and Lynsey Liu

On July 21st, the Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization (the “Resolution”) passed at the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee was officially made public.

The Resolution points out that it is necessary to actively respond to population aging by refining the policies and mechanisms for developing elderly care programs and industries and developing the silver economy and supporting the creation of diverse jobs tailored to elderly people. Moreover, in line with the principle of voluntary participation with appropriate flexibility, the goal is to advance the reform to gradually raise the statutory retirement age in a prudent and orderly manner.

The implementation details of the retirement delay policy still need to be clarified by laws and regulations. According to the content of the Resolution, the corresponding implementation details should be promulgated and implemented before the year 2029.

Key Action Points

Currently, the legal retirement age remains at the age of 60 for male employees and at the age of 50 for female employees (female employees in management and technical positions retire at the age of 55) in China. When employees reach the legal retirement age, the employment contract should be terminated and the employer should handle the retirement process for them.

Before the issuance of the Resolution, some provinces had already piloted the policy of delaying retirement. For example, the Jiangsu Province Enterprise Employees’ Basic Pension Insurance Implementation Measures state that “with the application of the employee, the consent of the employer, and the record filing with the human resources and social security administrative department, employees can delay retirement and the delayed retirement time should not be less than one year.” The choice to delay retirement still lies with the employee and requires the employer’s willingness.

The Resolution signalled that China intends to gradually promote the policy of delaying retirement.  However, before the corresponding laws and regulations are issued, employers should still implement the current legal retirement regulations.