China adds farmers to pension system
Some 55 million Chinese farmers started paying into an old-age pensionplan last year, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MLSS) saidhere Wednesday.
“Our work will focus on opening the old-agepension system to the needy, including migrant workers and farmers whohave lost their lands to development,” said Tian Chengping, theminister of MLSS, at the 2nd National Conference on Old Age.
Bythe end of 2005, China started collecting premiums for the pension planfrom farmers in 1,870 counties around the country, and has so faraccumulated a fund of more than 30 billion yuan (3.25 billion U.S.dollars).
About 2.5 million farmers are now receiving pensionsand they have drawn about three billion yuan (32.5 million U.S.dollars) from the pension fund. Some three million farmers who havelost their lands are also receiving benefits.
Tian acknowledges that the present pension system is quite limited as 65 percent China’s senior citizens live in the
countryside, including 8.6 million seniors who live in poverty.
The pension plan is an attempt to alleviate problems associated with an aging-population in China’s rural areas, Tian said.
Accordingto a report released by the China National Committee on Aging lastmonth, the aging population in China is growing by 3.02 millionannually. By 2051, China’s elderly population is expected to hit 437million, when three out of 10 Chinese people will be over 60.