The issue of the mainland's retirement age has resurfaced after a government white paper stated that there will be one pensioner for every two taxpayers by 2035, and that it was time to think critically about the ageing population.
The paper, released on September 10, triggered a debate over the possibility of raising the retirement age, currently 60 for men and 50 to 55 for women depending on the job sector.
Wang Xiaochu, human resources and social security vice-minister, reiterated last week there were no immediate plans to raise the retirement age. Wang also said 92 per cent of 200,000 respondents to an online survey by the ministry were against raising the retirement age.
A similar survey on Web portal qq.com had 115,000 people supporting later retirement and 1.15 million opposed as of Sunday evening.
The mainland has one of the world's youngest retirement ages, but despite the financial burden placed on younger generations, many are reluctant to see the age threshold raised, partly because they fear this will lead to fewer employment opportunities for them.
Although three million people retire across the mainland every year, there are another 10 million entering the urban workforce.
A later retirement age would reduce immediate opportunities for new city workers, especially recent graduates, who are already struggling to compete with an increasing number of their peers entering the workforce every year. Some 6.3 million new graduates were expected to join the workforce this year.