China continues to improve social insurance system

China has been improving its social insurance system to better support the development of the country, with the number of participants in the basic pension reaching 1.07 billion as of the end of March, a year-on-year increase of 14 million, said the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

The number of participants in the unemployment and employment injury insurance schemes was 240 million and 290 million as of the end of March, respectively, an increase of 4.49 million and 5.58 million respectively year-on-year, official data showed.

From January to March, the total income and expenditure of the basic pension, unemployment, and employment injury insurance schemes were 2.2 trillion yuan ($0.304 trillion) and 1.8 trillion yuan, with a cumulative surplus of 8.6 trillion yuan at the end of March.

In the first quarter, local authorities implemented basic pension insurance assistance policies for urban and rural residents, paying premiums for 8.21 million low-income residents, including those returning to poverty, severely disabled individuals and other disadvantaged groups, according to data from the ministry.

Unemployment insurance benefits, including unemployment insurance and payment of basic medical insurance premiums amounted to 28.2 billion yuan in the first three months, according to the ministry.

As of the end of March, the number of insured individuals in the pilot program for occupational injury protection for flexible employment including deliverymen has reached 8 million.

In 2022, the ministry, together with relevant departments, launched pilot programs for occupational injury protection for flexible groups in seven provincial regions including Beijing, Shanghai and Jiangsu province, covering seven large-scale platform enterprises.

Li Xinwang, director of the Labor Relations Department of the ministry, said at a recent news conference that the ministry will expand the scope of the pilot program and incorporate more flexible employment people into the institutional guarantee.

At the same time, it will actively facilitate the channels for flexible employment people to participate in pension insurance in their place of employment and improve the convenience of their insurance participation.

By 2025, China's basic pension insurance coverage will reach 95 percent, according to a five-year plan released earlier.

The ministry said it will further improve the supporting policies of the pension system and prepare for the comprehensive implementation.