We find that the Kannisto model, a two-parameter logistic formula, fits Han Chinese
death rates at oldest-old ages better than the Gompertz and four other models. Chinese
death rates appear to be roughly similar to Swedish and Japanese rates after age 97 for
both males and females. Because reports of age seem to be serviceably reliable up to
age 100 and perhaps age 105 in China, we think that this convergence may be mainly
due to mortality selection in the heterogeneous Chinese population. We show that in
China, as in developed countries, the rate of increase in mortality with age decelerates at
very old ages.