(Yicai Global) March 17 -- One-third of China’s 150 million people aged between 60 and 69 years old are still working, Yicai Global calculated from data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

About 60 percent of the sexagenarians who are still employed work in the agriculture, forestry, farming, and fishery industries, while the rest are mainly involved in manufacturing, construction, and retail sales. Most of them live in rural areas.

China’s population is aging. The country had 280 million people aged above 60 last year, and the number is expected to grow in the upcoming years, according to NBS statistics. The retirement age in China is 60 years old for men and 50 to 55 years old for women.

The elderly in rural areas have no fixed income and must make a living by working in the agriculture, forestry, farming, and fishery industries, Dong Yuzheng, head of the Guangdong Academy of Population Development, told Yicai Global.

As more and more retirees get back to work, China should build a new employment system that suits an aging society and reasonably raise pension subsidies, according to experts.

Also retired urban employees are going back to work. The number of active users aged over 55 on Boss Zhipin surged 27 percent last year from 2021, according to data from the Chinese recruitment platform. Job postings that accept retiree candidates also jumped 33 percent.

Nearly 70 percent of retired urban workers are very willing to be re-employed, according to a report recruitment platform 51job.Com released last year. About half of them do so to seek personal or social value, some 19 percent to give full play to their strengths and advance their careers, and about 34 percent to earn more money and contribute to family income, the report showed.

Editors: Shi Yi, Futura Costaglione