Some analysts suggest that China’s long-term economic development prospects are stymied by its ageing population, and claim that China will ‘grow old before it gets rich’. Does this mean China will never get rich? Are countries more likely to become rich if their population is young? How do Australia’s ageing population challenges compare with China’s? What impact will an ageing China have on Australian exports?

Lauren Johnston, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne, joins James Laurenceson, Deputy Director of the Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) at the University of Technology Sydney to discuss the effects of China’s ageing population on its economy and the need to refresh debate about the effects of demographic changes on economic development.