With the intensification of the population aging trend, China's pension financial market has shown great potential, gradually entering a new era of pension.
Gan Weimin, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Ping An Annuity Insurance, said that if pension insurance companies want to show unique market influence in the market, they need to focus on the main business of pensions, give full play to their professional characteristics, provide customers with high-quality products and services, and build a pension ecosystem , with differentiated market competitive advantages, while ensuring individual health and longevity, it promotes the high-quality development of pension insurance.
The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China emphasized that it is necessary to "improve the national pooling system of basic pension insurance and develop a multi-level and multi-pillar pension insurance system." Actively respond to the challenges brought about by the aging population, and promote the realization of basic pension services for all elderly people. At this stage, the issue of old-age care is no longer a matter of personal interests, but the focus of national strategies and the attention of the whole society.
Judging from the annual data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, by the end of 2022, my country's total population will be 1.4 billion, of which 280 million people are 60 years old and above, accounting for 19.8% of the national population, and 210 million people are 65 years old and above, accounting for 19.8% of the national population. 14.9%. According to the usual international classification standards, my country has entered the moderate aging stage (the international standard is that the proportion of people over 60 years old exceeds 14%). According to the forecast report released by the National Health and Medical Commission, the proportion of the population aged 60 and above in my country will exceed 30% around 2035, rapidly entering the stage of severe aging.
Looking specifically at the characteristics of my country's population aging, Gan Weimin believes that it mainly includes the following five points:
First, the elderly population is huge. As the most populous country in the world, China has more than 200 million people aged 65 and over, accounting for about 15% of the national population. Currently, one of the four elderly people in the world is Chinese. Some experts predict that the population over the age of 65 in China will reach a peak of 425 million in 2057.
Second, the population is aging rapidly. my country's entry into a deeply aging society is significantly faster than other developed economies and the world average. For example, it took France 126 years to enter an aging society, Britain 46 years, Germany 40 years, and so on.
Third, the health problems of the elderly population are prominent. Facing the era of longevity, how to achieve "health and longevity" is the top priority for the elderly. Pension insurance institutions should think more and do more in this regard.
Fourth, the old-age dependency ratio has jumped, and the burden of old-age care has increased. The young people in the family are faced with the dilemma of being under pressure at both ends. "There are old people on the top and young people on the bottom" which also makes the family cost high.
Fifth, get old before you get rich. This has always been regarded as one of the main characteristics of my country's aging society, and it is also the main dilemma faced by my country's aging society. The consumption of retirees in China is in a state of tight balance. In the event of sudden expenses such as serious illness, they may be stretched. This will also increase the burden of supporting young people in the family.
The elderly care situation is becoming more and more serious, but judging from the current three-pillar pension system in my country, Gan Weimin said that only relying on the first pillar is not enough to support high-quality elderly care life. To plan ahead, it is recommended to make more plans for the future retirement life as early as possible, so the second and third pillars of security services are indispensable.
Regarding the construction of the second pillar, he suggested that more enterprises and units should join in the development and construction of the annuity system. On the one hand, through the annuity system, employees can achieve a happy life and improve their quality of life, so that they can have a sense of gain, belonging, and happiness in the enterprise; on the other hand, it allows employees to better integrate into the development and construction of the enterprise and the unit middle. The "expansion" of the second pillar is urgent.
Regarding the third pillar, he suggested that the state and regulatory authorities should clarify the standards and specific requirements for personal commercial pension financial services, so as to give professional pension financial institutions more room for development. On the one hand, this part belongs to the third pillar and will be included in the The statistics of the scale of the third pillar must have certain standards and thresholds before the word "pension" can be used in products. This is a policy requirement; on the other hand, the state and regulatory authorities should let pension financial institutions develop more types of pension financial products , Let all kinds of institutions show their talents, strive to expand the market, and meet market demand.
In summary, Gan Weimin believes that pension financial institutions, especially pension insurance companies, should play an important role at this stage. Only by focusing on the main business of the elderly care industry and truly achieving "the first pillar, the second pillar, and the third pillar", can we effectively solve the problem of high-quality development of the pension security industry.
(Contributed by Ping An Annuity Shenzhen Branch)