China is aging at an unprecedented rate. Improvements in life expectancy and the consequences of the decades-old family planning policy have led to a rapid increase in the elderly population. According to the United Nations World Population Prospects, the proportion of older people age 65 and over will increase by about one-fourth by 2030, and the elderly will account for about one quarter of the total population by 2050. Population aging will not only pose challenges for elder care but also have an impact on the economy and all aspects of society (World Bank, 2016a). The government is aware of the need to develop an efficient and sustainable approach to aged care. To this end, the General Office of the State Council issued the 12th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Aged Care Services in China and the Development Plan for a System of Social Services for the Aged (2011-2015). It is now in the process of formulating the 13th Five-Year National Plan on Aging, which will further elaborate and finalize the reform roadmap for 2016 to 2020. The Plan is expected to be finalized and launched by June 2016. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) helped draft these plans and is now leading the development of policy measures for the provision of social services for the elderly. This volume has been prepared to support the translation of the broad ideas on aged care provision expressed in the 12th and 13th Five-Year Plans and other government plans into reality and to help the government tackle the challenges described above. It strives to identify a policy framework that fits the Chinese context and can be put in place gradually. Specifically, it aims to provide an up-to-date understanding of the evolving aged care landscape in China; review international experiences in long-term care provision, financing, and quality assurance and assess their relevance to China’s current situation; discuss implications of current developments and trends for the future of aged care in China; and propose policy options based on available evidence and best practices.

Recognizing rapidly ageing population is one key concern faced by cities and the challenge it would present to healthcare system, this book looks at ageing in China’s population as well as the delivery and financing of long-term care (LTC) in China. The book compares key features of long-term care insurance (LTCI) schemes in 15 pilot cities and evaluates the sustainability of various financing models adopted by the cities in the LTCI schemes. The book uses an interpretive case study approach to give an in-depth look into the LTC models in three pilot cities – Qingdao, Nantong, and Shanghai. The three cities represent three different models of financing and delivering LTC. To assess how effective the LTC models in these three cities are, the book uses five criteria, including utilization of medical resources, cost, equity, quality of care and sustainability. Also, the authors discuss how the financing and delivery of LTC can be improved in China, the impact of the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on older adults in need of LTC in the country and the implications of China’s LTCI reform for other countries. The book will be a useful reference to scholars and policy-makers who look at urban ageing and healthcare costs and delivery.

Growing Old in a New China: Transitions in Elder Care is an accessible exploration of changing care arrangements in China. Combining anthropological theory, ethnographic vignettes, and cultural and social history, it sheds light on the growing movement from home-based to institutional elder care in urban China. The book examines how tensions between old and new ideas, desires, and social structures are reshaping the experience of caring and being cared for. Weaving together discussions of family ethics, care work, bioethics, aging, and quality of life, this book puts older adults at the center of the story. It explores changing relationships between elders and themselves, their family members, caregivers, society, and the state, and the attempts made within and across these relational webs to find balance and harmony. The book invites readers to ponder the deep implications of how and why we care and the ways end-of-life care arrangements complicate both living and dying for many elders.

An international survey of different approaches to the provision and regulation of long-term care for the elderly.

This Handbook offers an array of internationally recognized experts’ essays that provide a current and comprehensive examination of all dimensions of international population policies. The book examines the theoretical foundations, the historical and empirical evidence for policy formation, the policy levers and modelling, as well as the new policy challenges. The section Theoretical Foundations reviews population issues today, population theories, the population policies’ framework as well as the linkages between population, development, health, food systems, and the environment. The next section Empirical Evidence discusses international approaches to design and implement population policies on a regional level. The section Policy Levers and Modelling reviews the tools and the policy levers that are available to design, implement, monitor, and measure the impact of population policies. Finally, the section New Policy Challenges examines the recurrent and emerging issues in population policies. This section also discusses prospects for demographic sustainability as well as future considerations for population policies. As such this Handbook provides an important and structured examination of contemporary population policies, their evolution, and their prospects.

This book provides comprehensive analysis and descriptions of China’s ageing finance system . China is undergoing the largest, fastest and longest process of population ageing in the world. It becomes a pressing challenge to the Chinese social security system in this era. Many developed countries have been going through this process. Pension and other financial tools have been studied and practiced for decades. China now is developing its own ageing finance systems by learning from other countries’ experiences and making innovations to suit the country’s request. Finance, a field that deals with the study of investments and the science of money management, is the most important tool to manage this situation. And hence Ageing finance has been developed into an independent area for research and practice. It helps the country adapt to new elderly support systems which is the necessary result from China’s admirable economic development and changes in population structure. Ageing finance is the sum of financial activities centered on various social need of providing for the aged and serving for their society. It includes pension finance,old age wealth management service and finance of ageing industry. Chinese government and people are facing a very unique situation as our population structure is deeply changed by the One Child Policy since last 70s. The slope of ageing curve is sharper than most countries yet it has achieved the most successful economic development in the world during the same period. Academic researchers, financial practitioners, and policy makers will find this book to be essential reading, as they study this process and look forward to new theories, innovations and lessons raised from it.

This book provides a systematic study of the challenges of aging in China and of the measures being taken, planned, and still needed to cope with the challenges. It highlights that the number of people aged 65 or above is growing and that the growth will accelerate—from 176 million people representing 12.6% of the population in 2019 to 310 million representing 22.3% of the population by 2035, and it also highlights that the aging comes at a time when China’s economy is not yet fully developed and not yet fully balanced. The book outlines how China has already established an elderly care system and is beginning to meet the needs of the elderly for economic security, social services, and so on; discusses the need for enhancing and considerably extending the existing system; and proposes reform ideas and key policy options.

Population aging is a consistent global demographic trend. The growth in both the size and proportion of older adults has threatened the sustainability of health systems in meeting healthcare needs of the population. Countries in the Asia-Pacific Region may face even more complex health system challenges due to the diversity in culture, management and leadership styles, composition of health service provision, investment in research infrastructure and innovation adaptation, data availability, and gaps in information technology.

This book assesses current developments in China’s demography, and discusses the changes which should be implemented to bring policy into line with the current demographic situation. It argues that population planning, which was introduced in the early years of the People’s Republic alongside economic planning, including "the one child policy", is no longer appropriate. It considers the results of the 2010 census, which showed the very significant shifts that are occurring , including a declining rate of population growth, ongoing growth of the number of people in "the floating population", an increasingly imbalanced sex ratio among newborn children, and ongoing ageing of the population. Besides discussing population planning policy, the book also examines how policies in the fields of education, health, gender relations, child development in rural areas, and polices for the elderly and families should be adjusted to accommodate demographic developments.

China’s continuous, rapid economic growth since the Reform and Opening up of the country in the early 1980s has been praised as a miracle of the world economy. However, since 2012, the rate of growth has slowed down, rendering some people pessimistic about the country’s economic prospects. This title is a collection of a leading Chinese economists’ views on China’s economic growth and structural reform. The author argues that China’s economy has entered “the new normal”, meaning that slowed growth rate is not a cyclical phenomenon but a change in the stage of economic development. Therefore, there is a need to enact supply-side structural reforms, such as improved efficiency of resource reallocation, while shifting the mode of development from one of inputs to innovation. In addition, the author discusses the five major concepts of development proposed for the “13th Five-Year Plan”, as well as some critical topics related to supply-side structural reform, such as agricultural development, labor employment, and product quality. Scholars and students of macroeconomics, development economics, and the Chinese economy will find this book to be essential reading.