Ministry: no immediate plan to raise retirement age

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said Wednesday that there is no immediate plan to raise the retirement age.

The ministry has conducted studies on raising the retirement age and submitted proposals to central authorities, but these studies do not mean that an immediate change will take place, according to an unnamed ministry official quoted in a Wednesday report by the People's Daily.

China's aging society and tight job market mean that any policies concerning retirement must be created with extreme prudence, the official said.

The current pension system sets the retirement age for males at 60, 55 for female government employees and 50 for female workers.

The ministry said earlier this month that it is looking at a more flexible retirement and pension system that would allow people to continue working past the current retirement age.

The ministry said the revision of the retirement age will be "an inevitable trend" in future, but it will be done in accordance with economic and social changes.

However, in an online survey by people.cn, the official website of the People's Daily, 93.3 percent of 450,000 respondents indicated that they oppose raising the retirement age. Many said they do not want to work longer, while others voiced concern about possible pressure on the job market.