Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
China is bracing for a demographic tidal wave: by 2050, nearly 4 in 10 citizens will be over 65. What happens when the world's factory floor becomes its biggest nursing home?
Even after scrapping the one-child rule, China's birth rate keeps dropping—prompting analysts to wonder if a nation can engineer fertility like it does exports.
China’s massive labor machine is leaking talent fast—300 million workers are set to retire this decade. Who’s left to man the production lines and drive the economy?
The retirement safety net is fraying. With more retirees than ever and fewer workers to pay in, China’s pension system is hurtling toward a funding cliff.
To combat labor shortages, China is banking on automation. But can robots really replace millions of seasoned workers—and at what cost to productivity and innovation?
Economists warn the demographic drag could shave 1.3% off China’s GDP growth every year post-2035. Is this the beginning of a slow economic suffocation?
Raising retirement ages, incentivizing childbirth, subsidizing education—China’s playbook is thick, but experts say these are Band-Aids on a bullet wound.
In remote villages, the aging crisis hits harder: sparse healthcare, dwindling youth, and rising elderly poverty reveal a deepening urban-rural chasm.
The "Made in China" model thrives on scale and speed. But as the workforce shrinks and costs rise, is the global export giant cracking from within?