Working until 70: Ageing in northeast China signals looming pension crisis

Retired farmworker Wang Fengqin has been avoiding hospital treatment for diabetes to save money, despite persistent pain in her abdomen. She is still working because her pension is not enough to support her children and grandchildren. China’s population is shrinking and ageing. Young people are flocking south for jobs in new factories, and not enough workers remain in the northeast to contribute to pension funds. An economic and population crisis is on the horizon that Beijing will be forced to reckon with.