China is joining the global push towards raising the retirement age. The new thresholds approved by legislators last week, however, continue to grasp at a utopian idea of ageing that is not compatible with the shrinking workforce in the People's Republic.

On Friday, the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress, China's top legislative body, approved the decision to phase in the new statutory retirement ages. Men's retirement age is set to rise from 60 to 63, and women's from 50 to 55 for blue-collar workers and 55 to 58 for those in white-collar positions.

China announced plans to gradually raise retirement ages by up to five years by 2040, starting from January In China’s three northeastern rust-belt provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang, where ageing rates have been among the nation’s highest,