Li Bin, vice-chairwoman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), attended the China Population and Development Forum 2021 held in Beijing on Oct 16. 

In her speech, Li said China has had a proactive response to population aging as a national strategy, adding that the country's pursuit of high-quality economic development will provide the economic resources to address this challenge. 

Other measures addressing population aging include improving the effective labor supply in an aging society, deepening supply-side reforms of elderly care services, building a high-quality health service system, increasing the application of technology, and fostering a social environment that is friendly to senior citizens, according to Li, who is also secretary-general of the CPPCC National Committee. 

Li Wei, chairman of the Committee on Population, Resources and Environment of the CPPCC National Committee, said it's necessary to accelerate efforts to develop a sustainable social security system for elderly people and continue pension insurance system reforms by conducting nationwide basic pension insurance coordination, adjusting basic pension rates in a timely fashion and offering more commercial endowment products. 

Li Wei also mentioned the importance of establishing a long-term nursing insurance system, giving full play to the role of community management in supporting home-based elderly care, and strengthening service provision to those in need. 

Calling the population issue "a matter of national priority" all the time, Wang Peian, vice-chairman of the Committee on Population, Resources and Environment of the CPPCC National Committee and executive vice-president of the China Family Planning Association, said efforts should be made to properly deal with the relationship between population size and structure, promote the realization of moderate fertility, and implement the third-child policy and its supportive measures while adopting proactive moves to respond to the aging population. 

China now has 264 million people aged 60 and older, which account for 18.7 percent of its total population.