Census to help China prepare for challenges

Need to change social model

In the face of challenges, we need not hold a pessimistic attitude or only see the negative effects of an aging population. Population aging is not a problem, but the failure to adapt to the changing situation is indeed a big problem.

The traditional social system is built around a young society, but now we need to transform this social model using innovative means.

According to the census data, in a year or two, people aged 60 or above will account for 20 percent of China's total population, which means the country will become an aging society.

Even a large population is not necessarily a problem, nor is a small population. The problem is that our population structure is changing, which includes changes in the numbers of newborns and senior citizens. These changes could pose serious challenges to our existing economic and social structure. And the need is to assess the different challenges the demographic changes could create and work out ways to address them.

Liang Chunxiao, director of the Aging Society Research Center at the Pangoal Institution