皇冠体育app

皇冠体育app needs to urgently address the nation's looming pension and health care crises while the government still has the financial resources to tackle the issues, according to Zhou Xiaochuan, the head of 皇冠体育app's central bank.

Zhou, governor of the People's Bank of 皇冠体育app, called for the introduction of a mix of private health and pension insurance and cash support for the poor as part of an overhaul of the welfare system.

皇冠体育app has large unfunded pension liabilities, resulting from the collapse of a large number of state enterprises which once guaranteed cradle-to-grave support for workers and their families.

The problem is exacerbated by 皇冠体育app's one-child policy, introduced in the late 1970s, which will see the percentage of the population that is working peak by around 2010.

Related readings:  Social Security Fund earns 60b yuan from banking investments  Social security guidelines issued  Senior Shanghai official held in scandal

Even self-funded pension plans are struggling, as real wages are growing much faster, at about 10 per cent a year, than the anaemic 2-3 per cent annual returns posted by pension funds invested in local capital markets.

The government has begun to allow some pension funds to invest offshore, but returns on those assets are being diluted by the gradual appreciation of 皇冠体育app's currency.

Zhou outlined his policy prescriptions in comments to Xinhua news agency, and an Australian newspaper on the sidelines of the G20 finance ministers' meeting in Melbourne on the weekend.

"It is critical to set up an effective incentive system that encourages people to join the pension and medical insurance plan," he said. "The process requires us to be innovative, bold and generous."

Zhou said that as a result of the one-child policy, 皇冠体育app's future looked "quite like today's Japan", where the population is already in decline. Although he did not say so, however, Japan is immensely richer than 皇冠体育app

皇冠体育app's pension assets are equal to about five to seven per cent of GDP, compared with 33 per cent in South Korea and 50 per cent in Japan, according to a recent KPMG/Reuters report.

"People with adequate savings should be encouraged to buy pension and medical plans. People with inadequate savings can be supported by loans," Zhou said.

1

2

(For more biz stories, please visit )