Problem of greying population creeping up on state planners

Mention China and the image that comes quickly to mind is one of people, people, and more people.

To foreign investors, 1.2 billion people could translate into a potentially huge market, but to policy makers it is an economic challenge of unparalleled proportions: just how can a government feed, house and educate one fifth of mankind? Yet even as Beijing struggles with the challenges of a huge population, another problem commonly associated with developed countries is slowly but surely creeping on to the scene - that of a greying population.

The issue and its attendant social and economic implications have not been widely discussed, dwarfed often as they are by discussions on the sheer size of the country's population and measures to control growth.

But take a closer look at the demographics and a startling fact emerges: thanks to the one-child policy, China is one of world's fastest-ageing nations.

Mainland population studies experts say, based on the current age structure, people aged 60 and above will make up about one quarter of the population by 2010. In other words, in about 13 years, one in four Chinese will be a senior citizen.

The ageing patterns will be uneven throughout the country, with the cities expected to lead the trends as better-educated city dwellers, like those elsewhere, tend to have fewer babies.

Policy makers may well take a serious look at Shanghai which, more than any Chinese city, has a population greying faster than even those of the developed nations.