Barriers to pension finance participation among older disabled people in China and pathways for inclusive reform

China has a large and rapidly ageing disabled population, yet pension finance is still commonly designed around an imagined non-disabled older consumer. Older disabled people often need accessible, low-risk and flexible financial services to protect their later-life security, but they encounter physical barriers in bank branches, exclusionary digital verification systems and pension finance products that do not match their income, care and accessibility needs. Drawing on recent public cases and policy concerns in China, this Current Issues article argues that these difficulties are not simply the result of individual incapacity. They are produced by inaccessible service environments, rigid risk-control systems and product design that treats disability as an afterthought. The article proposes three connected reforms: enforceable accessibility standards for financial services, disability-inclusive digital finance, and pension finance products that respond to care, rehabilitation and assistive technology needs.