Reality of China's aging society

China has changed beyond recognition in the past 30 years. Therefore, the challenge for the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee was not only to recognize those changes, but also to set a policy course that would enable the country to get ahead of its challenges. In terms of the new policy directions that have emerged in the final report of the plenum, the general response has been "so far, so good". Whether these directions can be translated swiftly into action remains a major issue.

The plenum was all about responding to the need to change, and no bigger change will take place in the next two decades than in demographics, in the acceleration of the migration of people to cities and the remorseless march of the aging society. For that reason, a significant focus of the plenum's deliberations was on providing common rights to all citizens.

The focus of urbanization will be the reform of the hukou (household registration) system and unifying the rights and entitlements to healthcare and social security. The emphasis in the demographic change will be to try and make the transition to an aging society smooth while, at the same time, pushing forward the involvement of the State in social care and well-being of senior citizens.