Contributions from local governments across China have held up the social security system, but pressure is mounting after other pillars of support were removed from the system. Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
Contributions from local governments across China have held up the social security system, but pressure is mounting after other pillars of support were removed from the system. Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

China’s social security fund is being propped up by local government subsidies, but for how long?

  • Without contributions from local governments, national social security funds would have run at a deficit since 2013, a South China Morning Post analysis of records finds
  • Beijing exempted companies from paying into the system during the coronavirus, but the move could come at the expense of supporting the nation’s most vulnerable