Social Sciences in China, 2022

Vol. 43, No. 4, 2022

The Chinese Strategy for Actively Responding to Population Ageing

Hu Zhan, Peng Xizhe and Wu Yushao

Abstract：The course of population ageing in China has unique features, and the country’s fundamental national conditions, development path and governance model impose special requirements on the country’s response. A path with Chinese characteristics that actively addresses this issue is urgently needed. The Chinese strategy is built on solid foundations, comprising the governance paradigm advantage of “one core and multiple components”;the structural advantage of “state-family-society” governance arrangements; the national endowment of being a major country with a rich culture; and the late-mover advantage conferred by the scientific and technological innovations of our changing times. It is necessary to clarify the relationship between the national strategy of actively responding to an population ageing and the population development strategy; on this basis, a positive view of ageing need to be cultivated to provide a better environment for the implementation of the national strategy; and to establish a holistic governance framework in which individuals, families, communities, the state, and the world are interconnected by integrating Chinese advantages in the governance of an ageing society. Thus, a systemic Chinese strategy for actively responding to population ageing can be continuously refined.

Keywords: population ageing, the governance of an ageing society, Chinese strategy, family, population governance