A tiny headline on the front page of today’s Chongqing Economic Times reads: “Retire at age 65? Experts at the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security are discussing it, people are nervous.” It seems officials have decided to raise the retirement age in order to deal with the challenges of an aging population, and ease the strain on government pensions. The decision is reflected in the “Social Security 12th Five-Year Plan,” which was released on June 27 and says the government will “study its options for a policy delaying the pension age.” According to the article, starting in 2016, China will begin implementing its policy of slowly extending the retirement age every two years. By 2045, the retirement will be age 65 for men and women alike.
“In another ten years, these old bones of mine can finally relax!”
Image from Chongqing Economic Times article.
In 2010, China’s population counted 178 million people over the age of 60, which represents 23.6% of the global elderly population. According to Zheng Bing Wen, the Director of the World Social Security Research Center at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China’s total working age population will decrease from 970 million in 2010 to 870 million in 2050. Another expert from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Li Jun, says China’s labor supply will be highly insufficient by the year 2030. The ratio of employment-age people to the total population peaked in 2011, and in 5-6 years, it will begin falling rapidly. He says the purpose of the delayed retirement age is to ease the rate of reduction of the total workforce and thereby stabilize the economy.
In an online survey of 5000 internet users conducted yesterday by the newspaper, over 95% of respondents were against raising the retirement age.
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The large photo of Apple’s logo in the center of the page announces that Apple has reached a settlement over the trademark dispute it has been fighting in China for the past two years. Under the agreement, Apple will pay $60 million to the Shenzhen branch of Proview Technology, in exchange for the legal rights to use the iPad trademark in China.
Several years ago, Apple hired several British lawyers to set up a company called IP Application Development, which would buy up rights to the iPad name around the world. The company paid £35,000 to Proview Technology in Taiwan, in exchange for that company’s iPad trademarks in various countries. It was not until Apple successfully launched the iPad in the Chinese market, that Proview Technology then claimed the transaction had not included the trademark for China, which was held by Proview Technology (Shenzhen), its mainland Chinese subsidiary. The Shenzhen subsidiary then filed a trademark infringement case against Apple in the Guangdong Province Higher People’s Court.
Apple initially thought it could win the case against Proview Technology (Shenzhen), since a Hong Kong court had sided with them in the matter. Yet the local Chinese courts proved less favorable, and Apple has now been forced to cough up a hefty sum before launching is iPad 3 in the Chinese market. The article in the Chongqing Economic Times argues this was quite a good settlement for Apple, since the company’s profits in China are massive and will greatly outweigh the cost of settlement.
Links and Sources
Chongqing Economic Times: 65岁退休？人社部专家再探国人神经 , 6000万美元 苹果向唯冠“买”和
New York Times: Apple Settles an iPad Trademark Dispute in China , Apple defends rights to iPad name in Shanghai court