Today China has published a white paper on a new social security system. Since China started on the road to capitalism ("Socialist market system" in the parlance) in the early 1980s China has struggled to adapt its previous arrangements to new realities. Now China is facing a double whammy: its aging population, made worse by its one-child policy; and its growing army of unemployed and potentially unemployable people.

However the key quote is:

The white paper pointed out the fact that China is the biggest developing country with a large population in the world, and its economic base is weak and the development between regions and between town and country is unbalanced.

The full text of the White Paper is here. While the US still argues about its Social Security program, Communist China is pushing ahead with private accounts for old age pensions and encouraging companies and employees to take more of the burden in providing for themselves. There's plenty more in the document that makes for interesting reading. The areas addressed are age pensions; medical insurance; unemployment insurance; work-place injuries; maternity insurance; "social welfare" for the elderly, widows and orphans; assistance for ex-servicemen; social reflief, which includes a "minimum standard of living" for city dwellers; housing security; and social security in the rural areas.

The conclusion seems realistic:

After years of experiments and practice, a social security framework with Chinese characteristics has taken initial shape. However, China still has a long way to go to develop its social security services to a satisfactory level. The aging of the population will put more pressure on the old-age pension and medicare expenditure, while the progress of urbanization will make the establishment and improvement of a social security system covering both urban and rural areas more urgent. More employees of non-state-owned businesses and people employed in a flexible manner will be covered by the social insurance system as employment forms become more diversified...

To press ahead with the improvement of the social security system is an important task for the Chinese government in its efforts to build a moderately prosperous society in a comprehensive way.