China pledges full coverage of pension system

BEIJING - China will improve the pension system to ensure that by 2015, the number of urban workers and residents underwriting the basic old-age insurance policies will reach 357 million, and the eventual aim is to achieve full coverage of the new rural old-age insurance system and urban employees' pension insurance system.

Moreover, efforts will be made in improving the basic medical insurance system to make medical insurance basically cover both rural and urban residents in 2015, said the National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2012-2015) released Monday by the Information Office of China's State Council.

By 2015, the government grants to each person subscribing urban residents' medical insurance and new rural cooperative medical insurance each year will be raised to over 360 yuan, while the coverage of the new rural cooperative medical insurance will be stabilized above 95 percent, the plan said.

The plan also promised to further improve the unemployment insurance system, the work-related injury insurance system covering prevention, compensation and rehabilitation as well as the maternity insurance system.

Efforts to protect the people's social security rights will also include measures to increase subsistence allowances and level of social relief for rural and urban residents, the plan said.