The Ministry of Labor and Social Security has announced an "ambitious" goal to provide all of the country's senior citizens with a pension by 2020.

"This goal is achievable," stressed Yuan Xinli, Deputy Director of the China National Committee on Aging (CNCA), an agency dedicated to promoting the well-being of the elderly, "but it must be pointed out that such a widespread safety net can only guarantee the minimum living standard of senior citizens."

China's population is aging rapidly. Right now, China is the only country in the world that has more than 100 million people above the age of 60. The age structure differs between rural and urban areas and among regions. About 60 percent of China's elderly reside in the countryside, which is the weakest link in China's social security system. As elderly care in China is still in its infancy, the system has many "loopholes," the biggest of which is the pension shortfall.

The next focus

By the turn of last century, most of China's rural areas had become part of the aging society. According to Yuan Xin, a sociologist professor at Nankai University, every year, 850,000 people in the countryside turn 60. In the coming two decades, the number of people above the age of 60 will reach 120 million.

Yet, China's basic elderly care system has not extended to rural areas. According to statistics released by CNCA in early 2006, about 55 million Chinese farmers, less than 10 percent of the total, have purchased endowment insurance. The number was even lower in some regions. According to statistics, of around 600,000 farmers above the age of 60 living in the 14 counties in the vicinity of Beijing, only 23,000 claim a pension.

At present, about 94 percent of the rural elderly are taken care of by their children or other family members. However, the traditional family care system is being jeopardized by rapid social and economic development.

The one-child policy implemented from the 1970s has gradually reduced the average household size. Most households have one to two kids now. In addition, as a large number of rural workers migrate into cities, empty nesters, namely, those whose children have moved away, are now increasingly common in the countryside. As their children are not home most of the time, it is not realistic for them to take care of their aging parents.

To meet the challenge of elderly care, an official at the Ministry of Labor and Social Security recently indicated that China would speed up the construction of a social security system covering both urban and rural areas. The existing social security system gives priority to urban dwellers. To guarantee the basic living standard of the rural elderly, the ministry has two focuses: One is to specify how rural workers can participate in the endowment insurance system, and the other is to establish a rural endowment insurance system in areas where it is feasible.

Searching for the right system

"I have been planting vegetables for several decades. I never dared to dream about claiming a pension month by month when I get old," said an elated Ma Julan, a villager in Dayingmencun Village, Hami City of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Ma is one of the seven original members of a seniors' fund in the village. The fund was established in May 2006 at the initiation of Cui Yong, Chairman of Yingfeng Real Estate Development Co.Ltd. in Hami.