It's time for China to pilot the same-age retirement in certain industries and working posts, such as government bodies and research institutes, says an article in Guangzhou Daily. Following is an excerpt:

Chen Zhili, the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) chairwoman, recently called for women civil servants and intellectuals to retire at the same age as their male counterparts.

According to our country's regulations on retirement, men now normally retire at 60 and women at 55. China has long advocated the fair treatment of men and women in all aspects, but still adopted a policy to let female workers retire five years earlier.

That's mainly because of the protection of women's rights.

Although China began reform and opening up more than three decades ago, and that related regulations on workers have also been revamped several times, policy makers have never focused on men and women retiring at the same age.

Reform is actually far behind the current conditions. The initiative proposed by ACWF is of practical significance.

With living conditions being improving all the time, the physical condition and working capacity of women have already been greatly enhanced so that in some industries and working posts, the time is ripe in some industries for same-age retirement.

Therefore, we should pilot the same-age retirement in these industries and working posts such as government bodies and research institutes.

(China Daily April 7, 2009)