Tong Ren

 

The Feasibility and Financial Sustainability of the Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCI) System under the Public-Private Cooperation Mechanism in China

Supervisors: Professor Jon Glasby and Professor Matthew Bennett

Tong RenCountries around the world are struggling to respond to the challenges of ageing populations, and to fund adequate care and support for people in older age. To date, these debates have been less prominent in China, the world's most populous country, with a population of 1.4 billion. China is ageing faster than any other country in modern history and has only recently begun to develop new approaches to funding the costs of long-term care (LTC) (with a new Long-term Care Insurance (LTCI) policy piloted in 15 cities from 2016). Beijing, not in the scope of pilot, independently designed and introduced a new approach based on a Public-Private Cooperation Model (PPCM) in 2016, which combines governmental and commercial insurance models. Despite this, China’s academic research on LTCI is in its infancy, with a lack of clarity around the target group, a lack of uniformity in terms of eligibility and benefits, and few details around the nature of future funding mechanisms and regulatory systems.

My research will use mixed methods (case study and a longitudinal balanced actuarial model) to analyse the feasibility and financial sustainability of the LTCI system under the PPCM in China by age, gender, and region (urban/rural).

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Management (NanjingUniversity of Finance and Economics), China
  • Master of Science in Management (University of Bristol), UK

Research interests

  • Long-term care insurance
  • Ageing issues
  • Social policy

Biography

I received my bachelor's degree in China where I was born and grew up. After gaining my master's degree from the University of Bristol, I continued my education and I am currently researching in the field of social policy. My relevant research experience informs my personal rationale for my doctoral research. Long-term Care (LTC) has always been the topic of my research interest throughout my undergraduate and postgraduate studies.

I hope that in the future my research could make a theoretical and empirical contribution to the understanding of policymakers working on the design and development of Long-term Care Insurance in China, with scope to benefit a significant number of Chinese older people requiring future care and support.

Publications

Ren, T. and Li, X. (2018). Analysis of the Impact of Delaying Retirement Policy on Pension Gap Rate. Modern Business, 12, pp.164–165. (In Chinese, ISSN 1673-5889)

Ren, T. and Li, X. (2020). Research on the Cash Payment Model in the Reform of Long-Term Care System. Labour Security World, 09, pp.58–59. (In Chinese, ISSN 1007-7243)

Contact details:

Email: TXR171@student.bham.ac.uk

Facebook: tong.ren.161