The seventh national census of China shows the aging population in the country is creating a policy challenge that requires covering the cost of elder care while ensuring continued prosperity for everyone else, according to a report in Voice of America (VOA). China s overall population in the past decade grew at the slowest pace since the first modern census in 1953. This came even though the one-child policy was abolished in 2016. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in about 25 years, one-third of China s population will be retirees, and their living and health care expenses will take up one-fourth of the country s Gross domestic product (GDP).