China's government is expected to improve work on serving and caring for senior citizens, as the nation prepares for a coming "retirement（退休）wave" over the next decade, experts said.
The nation has faced a growing aging population in past years, which may lead to labor shortages, putting greater pressure on the pension（养老金）industry and slow economic development. Moreover, the aging problem may become more serious around 2035, when the number of over-60s in China is expected to increase over 400 million.
However, these aging people, especially those "younger elderly" — who are around the ages of 55 to 60 years old, show an increasing willingness to be employed again. 51Job, a website that provides job opportunities, conducted a survey among retirees returning to the job market, among whom 46.7 percent of those surveyed said that they got the job to realize their personal and social value, and another 19 percent hope to go after better career development by using their skills. Around 34 percent of surveyed reemployed retirees said that they work to support their family or meet their higher-level consumption（消费）needs.
Pang Shi, director of the Chinese Academy of Personnel Science's department of employment and entrepreneurship, said people are encouraged to have a more positive attitude toward the aging population to help promote the sustainable development of the pension industry. She said that the large population of the "young elderly", are in relatively good health with more sound knowledge backgrounds, working skills and social experience, and have great potential to give full play to their talent.
"They are qualified to return to the job market. Developing human resources among the elderly can help relieve labor force shortages the nation has faced," she said. "Getting seniors reemployed can also help reduce their own financial pressures to avoid being poor, which can also help relieve the nation's pension pressure."
It's necessary to look at the aging problem with a systematic view, she added.
