Basic coverage for migrants

The migrant population in Beijing will be covered by the basic social insurance system, according to the municipal government's Humanistic Beijing Action Plan (2010-12) released on Wednesday.

The draft version of the action plan covered only migrant workers, but the released Action Plan stresses an equal treatment for the city's migrant population and the extension covers the whole of the more than five million migrant society in Beijing.

Gu Xin, professor from the School of Government of Peking University, said in an interview with Beijing News that the new measures are a step forward and reflect the government's aim that the migrant population enjoys greater citizenship, but he said medical insurance is more critical to this population than endowment insurance.