China widens pension coverage as population ages

 SHIJIAZHUANG, July 1(Xinhua) -- China on Sunday launched a campaign aiming to provide pension insurance to all rural residents and unemployed¹ citizens in order to help the country cope with its aging population.

"We must ensure that the new pension insurance system covers all rural residents and unemployed urbanites by the end of this year," said Yin Weimin, minister of human resources and social security, at a launching ceremony for the campaign held in Xibaipo, a village in north China's Hebei province.

More than 380 million Chinese have been insured by the urban-rural residents social pension insurance system over the past three years, with about 100 million aged² people claiming basic pension granted by the state every month, according to the minister.

At the ceremony, Chen Shizhong, an 81-year-old local resident, received a deposit book for the basic pension system from local authorities.

"I am very glad to get my deposit book, since I won't have to ask my kids for an allowance again," said Chen, who will receive a monthly pension of 55 yuan (8.73 U.S. dollars).

"A minimal³ monthly pension of 55 yuan won't solve the problem of supporting the aged population, but it can boost their dignity," said Bai Gang, head of Quzhou county in Hebei province.

Some 123 million Chinese were older than 65 by the end of 2011, accounting⁴ for 9.1 percent of the total population, according to official data.

1 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

2 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

3 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

4 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。