China to cut social security contributions

China will cut the share of enterprise contributions to urban workers' basic aged-care insurance from 20 to 16 percent starting May 1, the State Council announced Thursday.

Cutting the rates for unemployment and work-related injury insurance will be extended to April 30, 2020, You Jun, vice-minister of human resources and social security, said at a State Council Information Office news conference.

The new policies will cut aged-care insurance fees by more than 190 billion yuan ($28.3 billion) and unemployment and work-related injury insurance by more than 110 billion yuan by the end of 2019, You said.

Measures will be adopted to lower the social security wage base, the upper threshold on which a wage earner's contributions to the pension fund may be imposed, for different provincial areas, he said.

You underscored the importance of ensuring pensions be issued in full and in a timely manner.

The move will also pave the way for unified national management of the government pension insurance system, he said.

The basic pension fund, which is administered by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, stood at a surplus of around 4.8 trillion yuan in 2018, he said.