Beijing City Reforms Its Pension System

The municipality of Beijing took a new move in the reform of its pension system, enabling social insurance institutions to take full responsibility to collect, manage, and distribute pensions.

In the past, those retired can only receive pensions from their work units. If the unit closed down, they often lost their pension.

According to You Lantian, director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Labor and Social Security, starting from June, all pensions will be distributed by designated social institutions.

"Those retired can receive their pensions directly from nearby banks, post offices or community service centers," You said. "This will help all retired workers, regardless of work unit they belonged to. They will receive their pension fully and without delay."

In 1999, Beijing's pension system covered 1.09 million retirees, and the average monthly pension for a retired Beijinger was 677 yuan (some 80 US dollars).

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