Hundreds of millions of people in China are set to enter old age in the coming decades while the birth rate dwindles dramatically.
The national population fell in 2023 for the second year in a row, with policymakers warning of potentially severe impacts on the economy, healthcare and social welfare systems if action is not taken.
China's retirement age had not been raised for decades and had been among the lowest in the world.
"The statutory retirement age for male workers will be gradually extended from the original 60 years to 63 years," a decision by Beijing officials shared by Xinhua said.
For women workers the retirement age will be extended "from the original 50 or 55 years to 55 and 58 years, respectively", depending on the type of job.
The retirement age will begin to be gradually raised over 15 years from 2025, state media said.
"Starting 2030, the minimum year of basic pension contributions required to receive monthly benefits will be gradually raised from 15 years to 20 years at the pace of an increase of six months annually," Xinhua said.
The new rules will also allow Chinese people "to postpone retirement to an even later date if they reach an agreement with employers", it added.
The move was based on a "comprehensive assessment of the average life expectancy, health conditions, the population structure, the level of education and workforce supply in China", state media said.
- 'An inevitable choice' -
An expert told AFP that "demographic change" was likely the key factor behind the decision.
"The central government first proposed changing the retirement age in 2013, and there has been a lot of social discussion in the decade since," said Li Changan, a labour economist at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.
"I think many people are mentally prepared for the announcement."
And prior to Friday's announcement, state media had published articles touting the proposed retirement age.
"This reform will adapt to the objective situation of our country's widespread increase in life expectancy and years of education," an article in the People's Daily newspaper said this week.
It will also "raise the efficiency of the development and utilisation of human resources," the article in the Communist Party-run outlet said.
Mo Rong, director of the Chinese Academy of Labour and Social Security, told the People's Daily that raising the retirement age "is an inevitable choice for our country to adapt to the new normal of population development".
Chinese internet users flocked to social media to discuss the announcement, where related hashtags on the Weibo platform racked up well over 200 million views in less than an hour.
But government censors appeared to scrub many posts from the site -- a common occurrence in a country where open discussions of national policy are often deemed sensitive.
Many responses to posts by state-run media accounts on Friday afternoon said simply, "Got it" or "It's official".
But some hinted obliquely at dismay with the decision, with one user quipping: "As long as we still get to choose whether or not we actually retire, I have no objections".
Others bemoaned a perceived lack of clarity over how much longer those born in the 1990s and 2000s would have to work compared to preceding generations.
Germany has agreed to open the doors to 250,000 skilled and semi-skilled Kenyan workers in a controlled and targeted labour migration deal.
Kenya is struggling with increasing difficulties in providing work and sufficient income for its young professionals, while Germany is facing a shortage of skilled labour.
Five Kenyan bus drivers have already been welcomed to Flensburg, in the north of Germany, in a pilot project.
Migration agreements are a central pillar in the German government's efforts to curb immigration.
The agreement will also simplify the repatriation of Kenyans who are in Germany without legal permission.
Immigration is a huge issue in Germany at the moment, following the rise in popularity of the far-right anti-immigration party, Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Successive governments in Berlin have allowed relatively large numbers of asylum seekers to settle in the country in recent years.
Germany took in more than one million people, mostly fleeing war in countries such as Syria, during the 2015-2016 migrant crisis, and has received 1.2 million Ukrainians since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
The labour deal was signed in Berlin by Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Kenya's President William Ruto.
Germany agreed to ease some of its immigration laws to enable Kenyans to find employment in Europe's biggest economy.
Authorities in Berlin will also consider extending temporary residence permits for Kenyan workers who have secured an approved job.
Kenyans will also be issued with long-term visas to study or do vocational training in Germany.
"On the expiry of the long-stay visa, Kenyans may receive a temporary residence permit for study purposes in Germany for up to two years," the agreement states.
The temporary residence permit may be extended if the purpose of residence has not yet been achieved but is achievable within a "reasonable" period, it adds.
According to the deal, IT specialists from Kenya will be allowed to enter and work in Germany, even if they do not have formal qualifications.
Both governments will support the immigration of skilled workers who have finished vocational training or earned a university degree, as long as their qualifications are recognised by the relevant authorities of the other party.
The European country needs more nurses but critics say it should not deprive Kenya of much-needed medical professionals
The deal also includes provisions for the readmission and return of citizens between the two nations.
It spells out guidelines to prevent and fight against labour exploitation, forced labour and human trafficking.
While welcoming five Kenyan drivers in Flensburg on Thursday, Schleswig-Holstein's Transport Minister Claus Ruhe Madsen said Germany was in need of hard-working hands and clever minds.
"We simply have to position ourselves in Germany in such a way that it is attractive to come here," Mr Madsen added.
The drivers are the first batch of Kenyan workers, who will be trained by the Aktiv bus company in a pilot project, hoping to get a job in Germany.
Doctors, nurses and teachers are among those expected to take part in the programme.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) said the deal was expected to significantly increase access to decent foreign jobs for Kenyan workers in Germany and address labour shortages in Germany.
"It includes mechanisms to protect the rights and welfare of Kenyan migrant workers in Germany, ensuring safe, orderly, and productive migration," ILO added in a statement.
But there are concerns about a brain-drain in Kenya with professionals like doctors and nurses going abroad for jobs, leaving local hospitals with a huge shortage of medical workers.
"It is sad that we are going to service other countries at the expense of our own country," Ekuru Aukot, a Kenyan lawyer and politician, told the BBC's Newsday programme.
But Roseline Njogu, a senior foreign affairs official, said Kenya was simply responding to the global labour market demands.
"We have a youth bulge in Kenya and every year we have a million people joining the local labour market. It takes time and resources to create job opportunities at home," she added.
The short answer
You can apply for a birth certificate in a late registration of birth application.
The whole question
I
was born in South Africa and both my parents are Malawians. I was
raised by my mother as a single parent. My mother passed away in 2014.
When I was in Grade 11, we went to apply for my ID at Home Affairs but
we didn't succeed. My birth certificate was not found on the system. I
wasn't told the way forward or what they recommend me to do. However, I
was told to go back to my home country. I was confused because I haven't
been in Malawi before. What can I do?
The long answer
As you were
born in South Africa to Malawian parents, in terms of the amended
Citizenship Act, you can apply for South African citizenship when you
are eighteen if you have not lived anywhere else but South Africa, and
if your birth has been registered under the Births and Deaths
Registration Act of 1992.
The problem here is that if your birth
certificate was not found in the system, Home Affairs will say that you
were not registered under the Births and Deaths Registration Act and
therefore you are not eligible to apply for citizenship.
So where to
begin? You can apply for a birth certificate in late registration of
birth. It is a long and difficult process, especially as your mother was
a single parent and has passed away. Your mother’s friend, whom you
live with, would have to stand in, and you would also need to provide
the following documents:
• Application for an ID
• Completed Forms for the registration of birth
•
Supporting documentation like proof of birth, clinic card etc, as well
as written reasons why the birth was not registered within 30 days of
birth.
• Fingerprints of parents or adoptive parents
• Your biometrics
• Certified copies of parents’ IDs, or asylum permit etc.
• Death certificate of your mother
• Certified copy of ID of next of kin
• You must be a South African citizen or permanent residence permit holder, with a valid South African ID.
Even though you can’t produce all these documents, and neither of your parents can be there
This comes after MMC for Community Safety, Grandi Theunissen, also FF Plus councillor, indicated that the municipality and the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber, agreed to join hands in addressing the problem.
“It is expected that a formal co-operative agreement will be entered into soon,” he said.
As part of the agreement, he said, illegal immigrants, particularly those guilty of crime and illegal land occupation, will soon be deported to their country of origin.
Theunissen said: “The FF Plus discussed how to address several pressing problems, including illegal land occupation, crime, the sale of counterfeit goods, cable theft, illegal electricity connections and extortion, with Minister Schreiber on Friday.”
He cited foreigners who illegally occupy abandoned buildings in the city centre as one of the biggest issues.
Illegal occupants, he said, would rent rooms to other undocumented foreigners which poses a health, fire and safety risk.
“It is suspected that syndicates are working with city officials, law firms and the deeds office to transfer properties to criminals’ names,” he said.
He pointed out that large quantities of counterfeit goods are being sold in Pretoria west, where many Somalis live, while drug trafficking is the order of the day in Sunnyside where mostly Nigerians live.
“Centurion and Pretoria East, where Zimbabweans and Mozambicans are concentrated, are affected by cable theft and infrastructure vandalism.
He said the minister was asked to help with immediate deportation, more stringent border control and investigating corruption at South African borders.
“The FF Plus is of the opinion that other departments should also be involved to curb the problem effectively. The illegal hijacking of buildings in Tshwane must be stopped, so, the FF Plus is committed to eradicating the problem and the crime that goes hand in hand with it,” he said.
Early this year former MMC for Corporate and Shared Services, Kingsley Wakelin, now MP, said the City wanted to tackle hijacked and illegally occupied buildings in the Pretoria CBD in line with a resolution passed by council.
Melgisedek buildings in Riviera were said to be top on the list of illegally occupied properties targeted by the City in terms of the council-approved programme called Tshwane Sustainable and Better Buildings.
The programme is aimed at driving inner-city regeneration by tackling derelict and illegally occupied buildings.
Wakelin said negligent property owners, slumlords, and building hijacking syndicates have taken advantage of people desperate for affordable and well-located accommodation, leading to the illegal occupation of buildings