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on the 13th, the standing committee of the national people's congress voted to pass a decision on gradually delaying the statutory retirement age. this is the first adjustment in more than 70 years since the statutory retirement age for employees was determined in the 1950s.

according to the decision, starting from january 1, 2025, my country will take 15 years to gradually delay the statutory retirement age for male employees from 60 to 63, and the statutory retirement age for female employees from 50 and 55 to 55 and 58 respectively.

yicai global interviewed zhang yi, vice dean and professor of the school of public economics and management at shanghai university of finance and economics, on the specific methods of the delayed retirement reform, supporting measures, and the impact on my country's human resources.

first financial daily: what are the characteristics and highlights of my country's plan to gradually delay the statutory retirement age?

zhang yi: as for the delayed retirement, the plan is generally stable and moderate. some media previously predicted that the retirement age for men would be delayed from 60 to 65, but the actual plan only delayed it by 3 years. the reform will be completed in 15 years by delaying it by one month every four months, which is in line with the principle of small-step adjustment. the increase in the rate of female employees is relatively large and the speed is fast, mainly because the starting point is relatively low. this also reflects that the earlier the reform is launched, the slower the adjustment can be, and the longer the reform impact digestion period will be.

there are two highlights of the reform: first, the implementation of the principle of flexibility is relatively good. for example, the plan allows male employees to retire three years earlier. therefore, even if the statutory retirement age is delayed to 63, the insured can still voluntarily choose to retire at the original age of 60. moreover, the reform plan does not modify the calculation method of benefits. retirement at the previous retirement age will still maintain the benefits before the reform. second, it focuses on encouraging flexible delay of retirement, and provides both incentives and guarantees, eliminating the problem of re-employed personnel not having formal labor agreements and lacking rights protection.

first financial daily: what role does delaying retirement play in developing my country's human resources and improving the efficiency of human resource utilization?

zhang yi: the focus of this reform is more on developing human resources and even consolidating the country's long-term industrial competitiveness. my country is facing increasingly fierce international industrial competition: on the one hand, upgrading to high-end industries requires responding to the suppression of developed countries; on the other hand, with the aging of the population, low-end and medium-end industries need to face the competition and cost advantages of latecomer countries. in this context, my country needs to develop new quality productivity and continue its traditional comparative advantages as much as possible, including abundant labor resources and rapid improvement in population quality.

for example, the proportion of young people (25-34 years old) receiving higher education in my country is about 9.8 times that of the elderly (55-64 years old), while in oecd countries it is only 1.6 times, and in most countries it is no more than 3 times, and the number of years of education for the new labor force has reached 14 years. the flexible way of delaying retirement is mainly to provide opportunities for older workers who are highly educated, capable and willing to continue working in the future to make use of their remaining energy, while protecting their various labor rights, such as rest and vacation, and work-related injury compensation. for older workers who are disadvantaged in the labor market, they are allowed to retire earlier to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach.

first financial daily: some workers have reported that there is an invisible red line of 35 years old in the human resources market. people are also worried that delaying retirement will make it more difficult for young people to find jobs?

zhang yi: the overall reform plan is relatively stable, and the extent of delayed retirement is limited. this reform mainly focuses on the future and is based on an insight into the causes of the current 35+ phenomenon. the current employment situation is mainly due to the fact that my country's human capital is progressing too fast, and a large number of young, highly educated workers are pouring into the labor market, resulting in the premature elimination of older workers (i.e. the 35+ phenomenon) and the congestion of young people's employment (unemployment after graduation). at the same time, it is also superimposed with the impact of changes in external demand and international industrial competition. this situation is not static. in the next 10-15 years, the age of these more educated workers will approach the current statutory retirement age, and the employment situation will change greatly, so the reform should be started as soon as possible. moreover, as mentioned earlier, from the perspective of consolidating the country's long-term industrial competitiveness, a lot of reforms are also needed, and the retirement system is one of them.

first financial daily: what supporting policies do you think are needed to delay retirement?

zhang yi: i think we should not only see the overall changes in the quality of the population and the human capital situation in the future, but also pay attention to individual differences. an important point of this reform is that it breaks the original rigid retirement system design and allows flexible retirement, both forward and backward, to better consider the needs of different people.

the most important part of the supporting reforms is the protection of older workers. many countries provide unemployment pensions and disability pensions for older workers who have weak employment ability or poor physical condition. this system is very necessary for our country. part of the unemployment insurance fund can be used for unemployment pensions. part of the work-related injury insurance and pension insurance can be considered for disability pensions. in addition, i think more should be done to combat discrimination in employment for older workers.