National Committee Member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Lin Yifu: Population aging doesn't have to be pessimistic; it could also be a new economic growth point

South Finance National Two Sessions Report Team Tang Jing Feng Zitong

During the National Two Sessions, the issue of population aging became one of the hot topics among delegates and committee members. On the evening of March 8, Lin Yifu, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and deputy director of the Economic Committee, and professor at Peking University’s New Structural Economics School, said in an interview with the media that there is no need to be pessimistic about population aging. By improving the education level of workers, it is entirely possible to turn it into a new engine for economic growth.

In response to the question of whether the slowdown in labor force growth necessarily leads to a slowdown in economic growth, Lin Yifu gave a clear negative answer. He pointed out that if the education level of workers can be rapidly improved, the effective labor force can increase, and economic growth does not have to slow down.

“Actually, the United States is also an aging country, as are Japan and South Korea,” Lin Yifu explained. He emphasized that population aging is a common challenge faced by developed countries worldwide. When the population ages, the government will take measures to respond, primarily by improving the quality of labor—raising workers’ education levels and increasing investment in education.

Lin Yifu further explained that after entering an aging population, if the education level of new entrants into the labor force is higher than that of retiring workers, it means effective labor is increasing, and economic growth may even accelerate. The improvement in effective labor is more conducive to technological innovation and industrial upgrading.

“There is no demographic dividend in terms of population size, but after we improve education levels, we gain a demographic dividend in quality,” Lin Yifu said. From an economic growth perspective, we should be more confident about the future and not pessimistic at all.

However, he also pointed out that this does not mean population aging has no impact. On the contrary, we need to address the needs of the elderly—including material and spiritual needs—by providing products and services, which will become a new source of China’s economic growth.

(Edited by: Wen Jing)