China's ageing population: Can the country afford to grow old? | BBC News

China's leaders are trying to find ways to battle what many economists have described as a demographic ticking time bomb.

A slowing economy, shrinking government benefits and a decades-long one-child policy have created a creeping demographic crisis in Xi Jinping's China.

The pension pot is running dry and the country is running out of time to build enough of a fund to care for the growing number of elderly.

Over the next decade, about 300 million people, who are currently aged 50 to 60, are set to leave the Chinese workforce.

So can China afford to grow old?

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