Some 364 million Chinese rural and urban dwellers had access to social pension insurance by the end of 2011, and 103 million citizens received pensions every month, data released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) showed Thursday.
China's pension insurance targets citizens aged over 60. The pilot program for rural residents was launched in Dec. 2009, and in July 2011 for urban dwellers.
The ministry said it fulfilled the pilot mission last year, and will expand the program to cover more retirees.
China has persistently introduced measures to improve the social security net to benefit more people especially its rural residents.
Spending by social security funds rose 21.5 percent from a year ago to 1.8 trillion yuan (US$ 285.7 billion) in 2011, according to the MOHRSS.
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