China expands enterprise annuity access to more workers

BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- China released guidelines on Thursday to make its enterprise annuity system more "inclusive, flexible and convenient," thereby broadening access to more workers.

The guidelines, jointly issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the Ministry of Finance, allow all types of enterprises, social organizations, foundations, private non-enterprise institutions and other eligible employers to establish enterprise annuities with their employees.

According to the guidelines, employers and their employees may flexibly choose the contribution ratio or amount within the prescribed contribution limit for enterprise annuities.

Additionally, pilot programs will be launched to expand the coverage of enterprise annuities in selected industrial parks, industrial clusters, reform pilot zones, economic and technological development zones, and sci-tech startup parks.

Launched in 2004, China's enterprise annuities are a type of supplementary pension plan under which both employers and employees must contribute.

China's old-age insurance system consists of three pillars -- basic old-age insurance, enterprise annuities and occupational annuities, as well as the individual pension system and market-based individual commercial pension financial services.