Pension fund to draw in more workers

BEIJING, Feb. 7 -- Millions of rural and urban

migrant workers will be better protected under new pension fund regulations, the

government has said.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security

released two documents for public feedback on Thursday, covering rural migrant

workers in the pension system and fund transfer between provinces for urban

migrant workers.

One proposal is to lower pension contributions from

rural migrant workers and their employers, from 8 percent and 20 percent of the

employee's income to 4 percent and 12 percent.

If rural migrant workers contribute regularly for 15

years or above, they receive a monthly pension after retirement, the ministry

said.

"Rural migrant workers will enjoy the same rights as

their urban counterparts if they pay their contributions in time," the ministry

said.

The other proposal will eliminate barriers on

transferring the pension fund between provinces to help the workforce move more

freely in the country.

"The two policies are very important in the

development of the pension insurance system and useful amendments to the current

social security system," Zheng Gongcheng, the country's leading social security

scholar and senior lawmaker, told China Daily yesterday.

"The difficulties in transferring the pension fund

have severely damaged the interests of migrant workers," he said.

To incorporate more views, the public is encouraged

to offer its opinion on the two draft documents before Feb 20.

According to the ministry's report, there are about

230 million farmers-turned-workers in China, of whom 130 million work in cities

far away from their hometowns. In addition, thanks to the fast growing economy,

the urban workforce flow among provinces has been increasing in recent years.

But migrant workers face many difficulties paying to,

and transferring, the pension fund because of the high contributions and

inability to transfer the fund between regions.

At the end of 2008, only 17 percent of rural migrant

workers were eligible for a pension in cities.

"The central government is now working on the overall

structure of the pension fund at the provincial level," the ministry said.

It said the government would also establish a

national social security information system and every citizen will have their

identity card numbers as the social security number to check on pension fund

information. The project will first reach out to rural migrant workers.

The economic slowdown has squeezed 20 million migrant

workers out of jobs, Chen Xiwen, director of rural work leading group, a central

government advisory body, said last week.

They accounted for 15.3 percent of China's 130

million migrant workers, he said.

Thousands of small factories downed shutters as the financial crisis took a heavy toll

on the nation's exports since last September.

(Source: China Daily)

New rule hopefully helps millions of

migrant workers join pension plan

GUANGZHOU, Feb. 6 (Chinese media) -- Millions of migrant workers

from rural areas in China are expected to enjoy their golden years with

pensions, like the urbanites do, as the country's top social security authority

has planned to help them systematically gain access to the service.

A document released Thursday by the Ministry of Human

Resources and Social Security to solicit public opinions said migrant workers

could move their pension accounts from one place to another when they move, a

practice that is currently banned for lack of proper regulations. Full story