China Expands Private Pension Pilot Program

What’s new: A pilot program to grow the individual private pensions market, which was rolled out last year in two provincial-level regions, will be expanded to the whole country starting March 1, and will allow pension insurance companies to participate for the first time, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) announced.

The “special commercial pension insurance” program started in East China’s Zhejiang province and the southwestern municipality of Chongqing on June 1, 2021. It allows individuals to set up their own private pension accounts with insurers, who invest the funds on their behalf. They can start taking money out after they turn 60.