How to ensure the ＂sustainability＂ of future pensions in response to aging？ -the State Council transferred some state-owned capital to enrich the social security fund reform.
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, November 18th Question: How to ensure the "sustainability" of future pensions in response to aging — — The State Council transferred some state-owned capital to enrich the reform of social security fund.
Xinhua News Agency reporters Han Jie, Yu Qiongyuan and Liu Hongxia.
On the 18th, the full text of the Implementation Plan for Transferring Part of State-owned Capital to Enrich Social Security Fund issued by the State Council was unveiled. In the face of the challenge of an aging population, what kind of reform trend has this reform initiative released? What is the impact on people’s pensions, the development of state-owned enterprises and the capital market? Xinhua News Agency reporters interviewed the relevant responsible persons and authoritative experts of the Ministry of Finance for the first time, responded to social concerns and saw through the important signals behind the reform.
Why transfer some state-owned capital to enrich the social security fund?
The State Council has made it clear that starting from 2017, some central enterprises and some provinces will be selected for pilot projects, and 10% of the state-owned shares of enterprises will be uniformly transferred to enrich the social security fund. What is the intention of this reform?
"The transfer of some state-owned capital is an important measure to fully implement the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, thoroughly implement Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought of the Supreme Leader in the New Era, and strengthen the construction of the social security system. The basic goal is to make up for the gap in the basic endowment insurance fund for enterprise employees formed by the implementation of the policy of deemed payment period, and promote the establishment of a fairer and more sustainable endowment insurance system. " The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Finance said.
Jin Weigang, president of the Chinese Academy of Labor and Social Security Science, said that the allocation of state-owned capital to enrich social security funds is mainly to solve the gap problem left over from the initial stage of the basic old-age insurance system for employees of state-owned enterprises, which is regarded as payment without payment, which is conducive to realizing the sustainable development of the old-age insurance system and making strategic reserves to cope with the increasing pressure on the expenditure of the old-age insurance fund when China enters the peak period of population aging in the future.
According to Chu Fuling, director of the Social Security Research Center of the Central University of Finance and Economics, this reform has further broadened the sources of China’s basic old-age insurance funds and provided an additional guarantee for the sustainable payment of pensions in the future. He pointed out that at present, there is no gap in the national pension payment, but only a gap in current income and expenditure in individual regions. According to official data, in 2016, the income of basic old-age insurance for enterprise employees nationwide was 2,851.8 billion yuan, and the expenditure was 2,578.1 billion yuan. Not only was there a balance in that year, but the accumulated balance funds also reached 3,657.6 billion yuan. Broadening the supplementary channels of social security funds will help to enhance the sustainability of China’s basic old-age insurance system.
Can it alleviate the worries of the people in the future?
Experts predict that by 2052, the total number of elderly people aged 60 and over in China will reach a peak of 487 million, and the population aging rate will reach about 35%. Can the transfer of some state-owned capital to enrich the social security fund alleviate the worries of the people in the future?
"This reform measure further weaves the safety net of China’s old-age security fund, which is an important guarantee to cope with the future pension shortage. It can be said that it has given the people a ‘ Reassuring pills ’ 。” Qi Fuling said that in addition to personal contributions, financial subsidies, strategic reserves of social security funds and other channels, the transfer of some state-owned capital to enrich social security funds will undoubtedly form an important channel for the source of social security funds, and raising funds through more channels will effectively alleviate the pressure on future pension expenditures.
"This move will help protect the legitimate rights and interests of the broad masses of employees and give everyone confidence in the prospects for the operation of the urban employee pension insurance system." Jin Weigang said that according to the social insurance law, the basic old-age insurance contributions corresponding to the policy of deemed payment period are borne by the government, and one source of government expenditure is financial budget support and the other is the national social security fund. After the implementation of the transfer plan, state-owned capital will become an important source of funds for the national social security fund and an important guarantee for the future people to receive pensions as scheduled.
What is the impact on state-owned enterprises and capital markets?
The purpose of this transfer is to establish a long-term mechanism to supplement social security funds. The central and local state-owned and state-controlled large and medium-sized enterprises and financial institutions included in the transfer scope involve a huge amount of assets. People from all walks of life are concerned about the impact on the development of state-owned enterprises and capital markets once the pilot is launched.
"The significance of the implementation of the transfer is to promote the reform of state-owned enterprises, reflect the sharing of the development achievements of state-owned enterprises, and promote the reform and improvement of the basic old-age insurance system." The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Finance explained that the transfer target is the equity of the central and local enterprise groups, and generally does not involve listed enterprises. The income of state-owned capital mainly comes from equity dividends. At present, China’s enterprise pension insurance fund has a large balance in general, and the financial department will not collect the proceeds from the transferred state-owned capital in the short term, which will not lead to the realization of state-owned capital by the undertaker.
In this regard, Chu Fuling believes that this reform measure only changes the shareholding structure of state-owned enterprises, and the capital of enterprises is stable. Moreover, the social security fund and other undertakers have to fulfill the lock-up period obligations for more than three years. During the lock-up period, if the relevant enterprises involved in the transfer are listed, they will also inherit the lock-up period obligations of the original shareholders, and there will be no realization of state-owned capital during these periods.
In addition, the social security fund and other undertakers, as financial investors, enjoy the right of income and disposal of the state-owned shares, and do not interfere in the daily production and operation management of enterprises. The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Finance pointed out that the transfer of a small number of listed enterprises belongs to the diversified holding of state-owned shares, which will not change the attributes and total amount of state-owned shares of enterprises, nor will it change the current management system and methods. The participation of social security funds and other entities in shareholding will further optimize the corporate governance structure of listed enterprises, help improve the management level of enterprises and have a positive impact on the capital market.
"This reform will not impact the capital market." Chu Fuling said that the plan basically does not involve listed companies, and even if it does, it is very small. The diversification of state-owned shares will help to better improve the corporate governance structure. In addition, the plan proposes that the current policy of transferring (reducing) state-owned shares to raise social security funds should be stopped, which will also help to unify policies and avoid repeated transfers.
How to manage and use the transfer of special funds?
State-owned capital is transferred to the social security fund. How to manage and make good use of this pension money in the future?
According to the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Finance, this fund will be specially used to make up for the gap in the basic endowment insurance fund for enterprise employees. The transfer of state-owned shares of central enterprises is entrusted by the State Council to the Social Security Fund for centralized holding, separate accounting, assessment and supervision. When conditions are ripe, with approval, the Social Security Fund can set up a pension management company to independently operate the transferred state-owned shares of central enterprises.
In addition, the transferred state-owned shares of local enterprises are centrally held, managed and operated by wholly state-owned companies established by provincial people’s governments. Can also be entrusted to the province (autonomous regions and municipalities) with the function of state-owned capital investment and operation of the company account management.
"As a strategic reserve fund, this special fund will not be easily used, mainly to meet the needs of the future." Jin Weigang said that the use of reserve funds must be long-term, and there is no need to use it in the short term. When to use it mainly depends on the income and expenditure and financial subsidies of the endowment insurance fund for urban employees in China in the future.
He said that this reform measure, guaranteed by national credit and huge state-owned capital, provides a solid institutional guarantee for China to cope with the future population aging. The next step should be to formulate supporting measures such as measures for the operation and management of state-owned capital and the specific use of collected funds by the central government according to the plan.