China will introduce its plan on raising the retirement age before 2020, a senior official has pledged, as the government looks to push ahead with the overhaul so as to cope with a shrinking workforce and an aging society.

"As raising the retirement age is among the major tasks that were outlined in the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee last November, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security will definitely introduce the plan before 2020," Minister Yin Weimin said on March 10.

Yin pledged to carry out the reform in progressive and tiny steps, but he did not elaborate on policy details.

China's retirement age is 60 for men, 55 for female white-collar workers and 50 for female blue-collar employees.

The latest official data showed China's working-age population dropped by 2.44 million to 919.54 million in 2013, the second straight year of decline, while the number of those aged above 60 reached 202.43 million.

Bird Flu Vaccine

Vaccines for H7N9 bird flu could hit the market as early as May, a Chinese expert on infectious disease said on March 7.

The vaccine is currently being submitted to drug control authorities for tests, said Li Lanjuan, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

According to official statistics, H7N9 has infected more than 120 people in China and killed at least 36 of them so far this year.

Li said there has not been any substantial evidence for consistent human-to-human infection of H7N9, adding that poultry markets remained the primary source of infection.

Internet Museum

China will build its first Internet museum to chronicle the development of the Internet in the increasingly wired country, China's Internet network watchdog said on May 7.

The museum will display the history and fruits of China's Internet development, with a portion of the exhibition open to the public in early April, according to China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), one of the museum's major organizers.

Many digital technologies will be used to color the show, including social networking platforms to interact with netizens, with the introduction of a mobile app to enable a virtual trip within the museum, said Li Xiaodong, Executive Director of CNNIC.

China now has over 600 million netizens, with mobile Internet users having expanded to 500 million. E-commerce and gaming are booming as informatization becomes key to updating the economy.