This Piece of Chinese Exceptionalism Couldn’t Last
The world’s second-largest economy is finally raising the retirement age like other countries.
Facing the reality of an aging China.
Photographer: Jade Gao/AFP/Getty Images
China is fond of presenting itself as an outlier. From previously soaring growth figures, to the initial success of its Covid-Zero strategy, it has consistently promoted Chinese exceptionalism: The idea that its economic system and political model are superior alternatives to the West, and in particular to the US. Eventually, though, the same problems that plague other nations — from property bubbles to pandemic slowdowns — catch up.
Beijing’s decision to raise the retirement age shows that it’s falling in line with other countries, again. President Xi Jinping has been slow to enforce remedies to fix weak growth, even as more economists predicted China would fall short of its 5% annual target. This time, he is putting pragmatism before politics. Long may it continue.