Delayed retirement to be rolled out slowly

China will gradually implement new policies that will delay retirement nationwide, rather than quickly applying it to all people at once, the country's top human resources and social security authority said on Friday.

The revised policies will firstly affect among people who are supposed to be retiring at a comparatively early age under current retirement rules, before they are further applied to more people across the country, Li Zhong, spokesman of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, said at a press conference.

Li said the ministry was still working on the policies, and that the specific regulations would be open to public feedback before they are formally released and implemented.

Postponing retirement has been controversial since the idea was floated several years ago.

Many people were concerned about the effects of the revised policies. Some worried that it would affect young people's job prospects, especially amid a slowing economy and young generations struggling to find work.

Li said delayed retirement would not have adverse effects on young people's employment, as there is an increasingly aging Chinese population.

"China's working-age population has been shrinking since it reached a peak in 2011, and estimations show that it will further drop by 2030 and 2050," Li said, adding that the shrink means more job opportunities are awaiting the young.

"In addition, the delayed retirement will be implemented mainly in some traditional sectors such as manufacturing, while young people prefer to find job opportunities in some emerging industries like E-commerce, which means the two sides will not be in a collision," Li said.