A/HRC/45/14/Add.1 significant decline in fertility, with lasting effects on the country’s demography. This declining fertility rate coincided with the broader global trend of extended life expectancy. 6 7. The pace of ageing also needs to be considered in the context of broader population demographics. China is currently at a point of key shift, from the greatest growth in its working-age population towards a period when its aged population will increase more rapidly while its labour force decreases. This is exacerbated by relatively low statutory pension ages of the Basic Pension Scheme for Urban Employees: 50 years for women at production posts, 55 for women at managerial and technical posts and 60 for men. 7 8. Women are likely to live longer than men in China. In 1950, the average life expectancy at birth for women and men in China was 44.6 years. By 2030, the life expectancy of Chinese women will be 79 years compared with 76 years for men. While the difference in life expectancy is expected to narrow in most high-income countries, it will further expand in China. In 2010, women accounted for nearly 60 per cent of the population aged over 80 years, and that percentage is set to rise steadily in the next few decades. 8 9. Moreover, there are large disparities in life expectancy, health status and health service use between older persons of low and high socioeconomic status. Regional differences in health status and life expectancy also exist; for example, older persons living in economically well-developed regions have a higher disability-free life expectancy than older persons residing in rural and/or less developed parts of China.9 10. The country is ranked at 52 on the Global AgeWatch Index. 10 It performs best in the enabling environment domain (28) but ranks lowest in the income security domain (75), owing to a high old-age poverty rate (23.9 per cent) and low relative welfare (50 per cent). It faces significant challenges, but it has made progress on age-friendly policies.11 III. Administrative, legal, institutional and policy framework 11. China is party to six of the core international human rights treaties: the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 12. Although China signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1998, it has yet to ratify it. In addition, China has not signed or ratified the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance; the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families; the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child 6 7 8 9 10 11 4 Addressing the Challenges of Population Ageing in Asia and the Pacific: Implementation of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.17.II.F.17); see also www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/events/pdf/expert/24/Policy_Briefs/PB_China.pdf. Asghar Zaidi and others, “Active Ageing Index for China: comparative analysis with European Union member States and South Korea”, report produced for the European Union-China Social Protection Reform Project, Active Ageing Index for China, (July 2019), p. 16. World Health Organization (WHO), China Country Assessment Report on Ageing and Health (2015), p. 1. Ibid., p. 20. See data for China at www.helpage.org/global-agewatch/. Ibid.