Recent Social Security Developments in the People’s Republic of China

Social security programs in the People’s Republic of China are in transition due to a series of economic and social experiments introduced by the government since 1978 to promote modernization. These new policies will have immediate and long-term implications not only for statesector employees, who are currently covered by incomemaintenance programs, but also for the majority of aged persons, who have always depended on family members and limited public assistance for financial support. In recognition of the need to provide effective incomemaintenance programs for China’s entire working population, both rural and urban, the government announced-in its Seventh Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development (adopted September 1985)-guidelines for reforming existing programs and developing new ones. i The plan suggested (1) setting up separate programs to cover different population groups, (2) reducing govemment subsidies and introducing employee contributions to state-sector social security programs, and (3) inaugurating an unemployment insurance scheme.* These proposed features point to a significant departure