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China Increases Social Security Spending
The Chinese central government has spent 45.8 billion yuan on improving social security in the country so far this year, according to the Ministry of Finance.
The national treasury's spending on social security this year was 80 percent more than last year, sources from the on-going national meeting on fiscal affairs said Thursday, December 14.
The money was spent on pensions, unemployment payments, and subsidies for laid-off workers and low-income urban residents.
According the Ministry of Finance, the central government will further increase the proportion of social security expenditure in next year's budget. The aim is to guarantee prompt and full payment of pensions and subsidies for laid-off workers to maintain a minimum living standard.
Minister of Finance Xiang Huaicheng said that in order to establish a unified, standardized social security system, the country will shift from the current "three bottom lines of social security" to a dual bottom-line system consisting of unemployment insurance and a guarantee of a minimum level of living for urban residents.
The current three bottom lines of social security in China consist of unemployment insurance, a guarantee of a minimum level of living for laid-off workers and a guarantee of a minimum level of living for urban residents.
By the end of 1999, some 93.2 million Chinese workers had been covered by pension insurance, and 96.7 million by unemployment insurance. At the same time, the country has begun to establish a medical insurance system.
Xiang said that China is going to further improve the existing pension insurance system that was contributed by both the government coffers and individual savings.
He said that the government will lower the requirement for the minimum amount required in the saving account of a pension fund so as to let individuals become the sole contributors to the account.
The country will set up a separate account for government contributions to the pension fund, which will be managed separately.
According to Xiang, the pension payment will be made through a universal pension system in the future.
He said that China will also actively push forward the reform of medical insurance and medical services for urban residents.
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