Real pension hike needed

The latest increase in pension will be of greater help than it seems for the country's about 74 million retirees from enterprises thanks to the milder-than-expected inflation in 2013. However, to better prepare for the rapid aging society and allow more real pension growth, Chinese policymakers have to keep price hike under control.

On Wednesday, the government raised the basic pension of enterprise retirees by 10 percent starting Jan 1, 2014. The increase in enterprise retirees' pension for the 10th consecutive year is a welcome move especially because the world's second largest economy is likely to register the slowest growth in a decade.

It is one thing to increase pension when double-digit growth is the norm and quite another when long-term growth potential is shifting into a lower gear. Given that the number of retirees is expected to grow in the coming decades, every increase in pension will require larger funds to support.