(ATF) The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the Ministry of Finance say the state pension in China will rise by 5% this year.
Many pensioners feared pensions may not be paid in full this year, as various premiums have been reduced or cut under pressure from economic conditions. And officials are trying to standardise pensions across the country.
Each of China’s 31 provinces pays different amounts to retirees, from state, businesses and other work units.
The new rise was announced alongside a complicated ‘adjustment rate’ by which increases are calculated.
Many people expressed fear that pensions may not be paid at all, due to the chaos brought about by the coronavirus and natural disasters, alongside economic problems. Premiums have been reduced this year China News Network reported.
According to data from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, this year’s reduction and exemption of social insurance premiums has been unprecedented in intensity and scale.
The annual corporate pension, unemployment and work-related injury insurance is expected to be reduced by 1.6 trillion yuan, and corporate pension insurance premiums accounted for 1.5 trillion yuan of this.
In this regard, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security gave a reassurance: the reduction or exemption of social insurance premiums will not affect the guaranteed payment of pensions on time and in full.
Nie Mingjun, director of the Pension Insurance Department at the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, revealed that as of the end of June, the national corporate pension insurance fund had a cumulative balance of 4.77 trillion yuan. And it is expected that it will maintain a balance of more than 3.8 trillion yuan by the end of the year.
Nie said: “The overall support capacity of the National Social Security Strategic Reserve Fund is relatively strong.”
Nie said that at present, 26 provinces across the country had achieved standardised provincial level coordination in calculating and paying pensions, and the remaining provinces would do the same by the end of this year, which would unify revenue and expenditure.
