China is aging faster than expected, state media reported, as a strict one-child policy and longer life expectancy mean the number of retired workers is growing faster than the ranks of those paying into pension funds. 

More than 10 percent of the 1.3 billion people in the world's most populous country were 60 or above, Xinhua news agency said. 

"The aging problem has come around early and developed rapidly," Hui Liangyu, vice premier of the State Council, the Chinese cabinet, was quoted as saying by the China News agency. 

"The proportion of the working population against the aging population has shrunken and the number of people having to care for the elderly is rising, which will have a significant and deep impact on the economy, society, culture and more," Hui was quoted as saying at a meeting in Beijing on Sunday. 

China has previously warned that the already strained social security and pension systems must be reformed before the elderly population is expected to peak by the end of the 2020s. 

People retiring in China today do not enjoy the cradle-to-grave welfare provided to previous generations which has been replaced with a mish-mash of government and corporate pension plans experts say are riddled with problems. 

In March, the pension system was reported to be facing a shortfall of more than $300 billion. 

Defaulting on pension payments and lack of medical coverage are two key flash points for unrest, sparking protests by retirees across the country. 

Communist Party leaders are expected to move towards improving social services after years of focusing on speeding up economic growth in the 11th Five-Year Plan, the new roadmap for the world's seventh-largest economy. 

That plan should be unveiled on Tuesday at the end of the plenum of the Party Central Committee in Beijing, where improving the lot of the millions left behind by the economic boom to create a more "harmonious society" is a top priority. 

China is expected to add about 10 million to its population each year, demographics experts have said, and has no plans to ease the one-child policy, despite concerns about low urban birth rates and the aging population.