Government moves to solve pensions shortfall

Road map

More assurances for worried pensioners came in November, when the central authorities unveiled a guideline on medium-and long-term planning for dealing with the graying society.

Considered a landmark document, it detailed for the first time how China plans to cope with mounting demographic stress in the coming decades.

It called for measures to improve the health of newborns, develop vocational education for seniors and expand the reservoir of social wealth, with the aim of bolstering the workforce and funding a resilient social security system in an aged society.

The ultimate goal is that by 2050, China will be able to support its senior citizens with sufficient incomes, human capital, innovative technologies, healthcare and other services.

Du Peng, vice-president of Renmin University of China and an expert on aging, said the plan would help to assuage people's concerns about the solvency of the pension fund system by detailing reforms in a wide range of areas, including education, employment and the law.

"It indicates that the authorities are doing things on that front," he said.