Source: CCTVNEWS 2015-06-13
Reporter: HE Weiwei
China now has more than 200 million citizens aged 60 or above. As the population ages, the government has also been reforming the pension system to meet the growing need.
Chen Shunxin is a businessman who retired 5 years ago. He says his monthly pension is less than he earned before, but it's enough to live on.
"My pension is only 70% of my salary before I retired. I used to earn 3,000 yuan a month. Now I get 2,000, but that doesn't really affect me because both my son and daughter are married and have stable incomes. My wife and I get 50,000 yuan a year and we can live normally," Chen said.
Like many other Chinese citizens, Mr. Chen had savings in the bank as well as shares before he retired. He says traditionally the children bear a lot of the responsibilities of caring for the elderly in China, but he relies more on social insurance.
"It is a Chinese old tradition to rely on the children after retirement, but for me, the pension can support my family as long as I don't get any critical disease. And even if I get ill, the medical insurance will help," Chen said.
China's population is aging, and the government is seeking ways to improve the pension system for the growing number of retired people.
The compulsory pension system started in China in 1997. By the end of last year the system covered 840 million people. Experts say there is still a lot for the government to do to make the system more equitable.
"There are still differences in pensions depending on where you live: gaps between urban and rural areas, between the eastern regions and western-central regions, between developed regions and less developed regions. The government is now working on narrowing these differences," said professor Wang Jun, Sun Yat-sen University.
In the past, only private sector employees had to pay pension insurance premiums; staff in government bodies and public institutions received pensions without any monthly deductions from their salaries. At the end of last year, the government said that privilege was about to end. Many see this as a start in making the system more equal and more sustainable.
