THE country’s 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities confirmed they would increase their pensions, Economic View reported yesterday.

Tibet will raise its pension by 80 yuan (US$11.22) per person per month, Guangdong and Shanghai will raise theirs by 60 yuan, and Beijing by 50 yuan. Liaoning adjusted its pension increase by 5 grades based on the retiree’s working years, with a maximum of 70 yuan and a minimum of 25.

The enhancements are also based on the retiree’s pension payment years, or working years, and basic pension level.

Moreover, elderly retirees, business retirees, ex-servicemen, retirees in remote areas and retirees who left the workforce due to occupational injury will enjoy preferential pension policies.

In March, an official notice said the country would lift the basic pension payments for enterprises, government agencies and public institutions by 5 percent from the 2018 level this year. An estimated 118 million retirees across China will benefit from this increase.

China’s pension funds are in a stable condition and payments are guaranteed, Minister of Finance Liu Kun said at a news conference Tuesday.

From January to July, China collected 3.8 trillion yuan in employee basic pension funds while spending 3.2 trillion yuan, leaving a balance of about 200 billion yuan. The cumulative balance stood at 5 trillion yuan at the end of July, Liu said.

(China Daily)