(Release translated from the original Chinese)

Beijing, CHINA (January 26, 2022) – In 2022, China will enter the deep aging society (with more than 14% of total population over the age of 65). At the same time, China will enter a new period of common prosperity. China’s GDP per capita exceeded US $10,000, the urbanization rate exceeded 60%, and the fertility rate began to decline. In addition, we are facing the challenges of the multi polarization of the international community and the post pandemic era. China’s economic and social development has entered the new normal phase.

The state needs to organize production, distribution, circulation and consumption in accordance with the growing consumption demand for healthy longevity, overcome constraints through innovations, and achieve supply-demand balance and intergenerational harmony. The Aging Finance Branch of the China Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics jointly carried out relevant research with government departments, academic institutions and cross-sectoral enterprises, and continuously released research results to promote social consensus and development.

The 7th Silver Economy & Health Wealth Forum was just held in Sanya, Hainan province on January 25^th, 2022, with the theme “silver economy and common prosperity”. This forum once again rang the national healthy life cycle bell, announced the reasonable time point for China to initiate pension payment (61 years old), i.e. the average life expectancy of people in China minus the average life expectancy of pension receiving in comparable countries, which laid a solid foundation for the formulation of pension policies and pension planning for individuals.

The forum released the preliminary calculation results of “silver economy and health wealth index 2020”, with final results to be jointly released with Economic Weekly in February 2022. The index report shows that under the guidance of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council’s active response to the population aging strategy, our preparation for the aged society has been improving. The indicators of healthy aging, medical security and elderly care service system development continue to increase in value. The replacement rate of basic pension and the sharing rate of basic medical insurance are declining. It is urgent to develop a multi pillar national pension system and a multi-level national medical security system.

As the international partner with the Chinese Association of Geriatrics and Gerontology, the Global Coalition on Aging’s CEO, Dr. Michael Hodin, delivered his speech at the 7th China Silver Economy and Health Wealth Forum, celebrating GCOA’s longstanding partnership with CAGG and highlighting, “Globally, we have now reached a milestone that, for the history of humanity has been unimaginable – the prospect of growing old has become the norm”. This development,” Dr. Hodin explained, “confirmed in China as recently as the newest demographic report from the National Statistics Bureau, makes the $17 trillion global silver economy the lynchpin to overall national GDP strength and economic growth for every society as it modernizes, including and especially China.”

Dr. Hodin continued, “China has been an early leader in advancing the growth of the global silver economy. Now that the country has officially crossed the population aging threshold, national investment in healthy aging and powerful public policy steps from the government are needed to address the growing prevalence of chronic disease associated with aging, such as osteoporosis and consequent fragility fractures or Alzheimer’s, to meet the exploding need for elder caregiving, to push the boundaries on digital health innovation, and to prioritize best-buy prevention strategies like adult vaccines for preventable diseases including shingles, influenza, pneumococcal pneumonia, and powerfully today, Covid-19. Healthy aging investment and policy are two critical areas where China can grow and lead on the global stage, particularly in collaboration with expert organizations like CAGG.”

The forum released the following research findings by the Aging Finance Branch in collaboration with government departments, academia and enterprises in 2021: Blue Book on Medical Policy Suggestions for the Integrated Healthcare Reform (2021); Blue Book on China’s Elderly Care Services (2021); Report on Individual Pension and Flexible Employment (2021); Report on the Current Situation and Policy Suggestions of Credit for the Elderly in China.

Since September 2021, to celebrate the second anniversary of the launch of Peking University Financial Review, the HSBC Financial Research Institute of Peking University, together with the Aging Finance Branch of CAGG, has held an Essay Competition on the theme of pension finance and silver economy, and widely solicited excellent and cutting-edge original articles in this field. The Forum also held an award ceremony and Symposium on “Pension Finance and Silver Economy.” Professor Ba Shusong, executive director of HSBC Financial Research Institute of Peking University, vice president of CAGG and Chief Editor of Peking University Financial Review, attended and delivered a speech, Zhou Ling, Secretary General of the Aging Finance Branch of the CAGG, announced the winners. The winning authors from academic and financial institutions such as Tsinghua University, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Tianjin University of Finance and Economics focused on “innovation of the ‘time bank’ mutual aid pension model”, “financing for the elderly to help common prosperity” and “improving the financial standards for the elderly” “research and analysis of pension risk”, “research on mixed pension plan under risk sharing mechanism”, “financial business development of pension services of commercial banks” and other topics will be discussed in depth, and relevant articles will be published in Peking University financial review one after another.