SOEs Should Contribute to Pension Funds, Finance Minister Says

(Beijing) – The government should use profits from state-owned enterprises to offset a shortfall in pension funds and ease burdens on employers, Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said on March 22.

Lou said the government did not start the pension system until the 1990s when workers in the private sector and at SOEs were required to contribute.

Older retirees, who contributed little or nothing to pension funds while they were still working, have still been paid out of it, leading to a funding shortfall. The shortfall can only be addressed if state assets are put into the pension fund, Lou said. This would also allow employers to contribute less to ease their burden.