Reporters' Log

Official optimistic about China's pension fund

By Si Tingting (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-03-04 20:00

Zheng Gongcheng (L), member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and a professor of Renmin University, talks with China Daily reporter Fu Jing on March 4, 2009, in Beijing. [chinadaily.com.cn]

People "should remain optimistic about China's pension scheme," said an official on Wednesday, despite worries that the nation could face pension funding problems in 30 years, when the elderly population is expected to reach its peak.

China established a national social security fund in 2000 to pay out pensions, and the total assets of that fund surpassed 500 billion yuan ($73.1 billion) by the end of 2007.

"The nation's 500-billion-yuan pension fund could turn into 4 trillion to 5 trillion yuan after 30 years, and it could share the financial burdens of our pension scheme," Zheng Gongcheng, member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and professor at Renmin University of China, told China Daily Wednesday.

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