Chinese Premier Urges to Improve Social Security System

Zhu Rongji Inspecting In Liaoning Province

To accelerate the building of a unified, standard and sound national social security system is fundamental to deepening reform, stabilizing society, and developing the nation.

Premier Zhu Rongji made the remark April 28 during an inspection tour from April 19 to 27 in Liaoning Province, a major industrial base and home to a large number of state-owned enterprises in northeast China.

In his talks with local officials and residents, the premier stressed the importance of ensuring that the social security benefits are given to pension-holders and laid off factory workers timely and in full amount.

The Communist Party of China and the government have attached great importance to the fundamental rights and interests of the working people as well as social security, Zhu said, and a series of policies and regulations have been drawn up for this purpose.

A pressing job at the moment is to seriously implement these policies and regulations to ensure the basic life of the majority of laid off state-owned factory workers and retired workers, as well as the minimum standard of living for unemployed urban residents, said the premier.

Zhu said a social security system that is really separated from enterprises and institutions should be built up, under which enterprises and institutions are merely responsible for paying social security expenses, leaving other things for social security institutions.

The existing methods for re-employment of laid off workers from state-owned factories should be improved and a reliable and stable fund-raising system should be set up, he noted.

The supervisory and managerial system for social security funds should also be vastly improved, he added.

In his speech, Zhu has highlighted the important role of community organizations in building a sound social security system for China's future.

Community organizations will be responsible for the management of retirees and the unemployed, and providing services to them after the social security system is separated from enterprises and institutions, the premier said.

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