On Monday, June 24, 2013, one of the government officials from China said that the country will be facing a financial pressure to cover the ever-increasing population of senior people. The official from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MoHRSS), Chen Liang, spoke about this issue in front of the international symposium.
Liang said that the country needs to increase the financial assistance to the funds and diversify the investment channels in order to increase returns. Liang – who is also the director of the Social Insurance Funds Management Department under the MoHRSS – while talking about how to approach the payment pressure, said that the country needs to save and enhance the value of social insurance funds and enable the sustainability of its policies.
The social insurance funds of China contain five parts, which are the basic endowment insurance for senior citizens, unemployment insurance, basic medical insurance, work-related injury insurance, as well as maternity insurance. Reports said that in 2010, 178 million people in China were 60 years of age or above, accounting for 13.26 percent of the total population.
Liang went on to say that the number is expected to double by 2030. In September 2010, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences submitted a report which said that China will be taking over from Japan to become the world’s most aging society by 2030.
