China’s current aging level has reached an upper-middle position globally, with declining fertility and increasing longevity jointly driving the continuous deepening of the aging process. From a temporal perspective, in 2000, the proportion of the population aged 65 and over exceeded 7%, marking China’s official entry into an aging society; by 2021, this proportion had reached 14.1%, signaling the advent of the deep aging phase; in 2022 and 2023, the proportion of the elderly further climbed to 14.9% and 15.4% respectively, evidencing a markedly accelerated pace of aging.