ABSTRACT
Since the year 2000, China has qualified for the United Nations’ definition of being an aging society, that is, one in which more than 10 percent of the population is over the age of sixty, or more than 7 percent is over the age of sixty-five. The first decade of the twenty-first century saw a marked acceleration of the speed with which China is aging. The fact that this aging is both ‘too early’ and ‘too fast’ is presenting great challenges, but it also is presenting the chance for the country to develop a support system for its elderly. This chapter discusses comprehensive measures for revitalizing an aging society. It puts special emphasis on ways to expand pension coverage and to increase the labor-force participation rate of the elderly. It explores issues surrounding a support system for the elderly that is uniquely suited to China, and it looks at how to develop the ‘sunrise industry’ of care for the elderly.
