Government-sponsored pensions vital: survey (3)

Zheng Zizhen, former dean of the Sociology and Population Institute of the Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences, called for a State pension plus a commercial insurance system to allow senior citizens to enjoy their remaining years.

"The State pension should be a floor figure that is only enough for the elderly to eat and buy clothes, but it should cover as many people as possible," Zheng said.

"Senior citizens who have pensions from the government should still buy commercial insurance to increase their incomes if they want to have a better life after they retire," Zheng said.

The government will not be able to increase the pensions for the urban residents by a significant amount when many farmers still have very low pensions, he added.