Benefiting more workers! Two departments issue documents to expand the coverage of enterprise annuities.

On January 15, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the Ministry of Finance issued opinions on further improving the work of enterprise annuities, proposing measures to expand the coverage of the enterprise annuity system and simplify the establishment procedures. Enterprise annuities are supplementary pension insurance systems established by employers and their employees on the basis of legally participating in the basic old-age insurance for enterprise employees. As of the third quarter of 2025, there were 175,000 employers nationwide who had established enterprise annuities, with 33.32 million participating employees and accumulated funds of 4.09 trillion yuan, showing preliminary functions of supplementary pension. It is also recognized that the participation of employers and employees in enterprise annuities needs to be improved, and the benefits need to be further expanded. The release of these opinions is aimed at enhancing the inclusiveness, flexibility, and convenience of the enterprise annuity system, continuously promoting the expansion of coverage, and allowing more employees to enjoy enterprise annuities. Expanding coverage range - Not only various types of enterprises can establish enterprise annuities, but also social organizations, foundations, privately-run non-enterprise units, and other employers and their employees who participate in the basic old-age insurance for enterprise employees can establish enterprise annuities. Simplifying the establishment procedures - The opinions clarify that if employers have established a workers' congress system, the enterprise annuity plan should be submitted to the workers' congress for discussion and approval; if they have not established a workers' congress system, the enterprise annuity plan can be approved through other democratic procedures such as discussion and public notice by all employees. In terms of plan formulation, a simplified template for enterprise annuity plans will be promoted, and it is encouraged for eligible places to gradually achieve online registration, making it more convenient for employers and employees to formulate enterprise annuity plans. Flexible choice of contribution ratios - According to the opinions, employers' annual contributions to enterprise annuities should not exceed 8% of the total wages of the employees participating in the enterprise annuity, and the total contributions of employers and employees should not exceed 12% of the total wages of the employees participating in the enterprise annuity. In practice, employers and employees can flexibly choose contribution ratios or amounts based on their economic capabilities. In other words, employers and employees with strong economic capability can contribute to enterprise annuities at a higher proportion or amount, such as employers contributing 8% and employees contributing 4%; while those with limited economic capability can start at a lower proportion, such as employers contributing 2% or matching the employees, and gradually increase the contribution after meeting the conditions. Independent choice of establishment methods - Employers can establish a single enterprise annuity plan or choose to participate in a collective enterprise annuity plan initiated by a legal trust institution. Relevant parties will enrich the types of collective plans, explore simplified procedures based on collective plans, and provide convenience for small and medium-sized enterprises to establish enterprise annuities. "The opinions give employers greater autonomy and flexibility, helping to dispel concerns about establishing enterprise annuities. Employers can establish enterprise annuities according to their actual operating conditions and characteristics." said Zheng Wei, director of the China Insurance and Social Security Research Center at Peking University. Tax incentives are also a major benefit. It is reported that employers and employees who establish (participate in) enterprise annuities can enjoy deductions from corporate income tax and deferred taxation policies on individual income tax as stipulated. "Accelerating the development of enterprise annuities is beneficial for improving the multi-level and multi-pillar pension insurance system, better safeguarding the lives of retirees, actively responding to population aging, and leveraging the advantages of long-term capital of enterprise annuity funds to boost economic development." said Fang Lianquan, Secretary-General of the World Social Security Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Lu Quan, a professor at Renmin University of China, believes that employees participating in enterprise annuities can smooth current and future income and provide additional pension security. The establishment of enterprise annuities by employers can be seen as a long-term employee welfare project, reflecting investment in people, helping to attract and retain talents, promoting long-term harmonious labor relations, and continuously improving productivity. Many people are concerned about how their individual accounts in enterprise annuities will be transferred when changing jobs. It is understood that if the new employer has established an enterprise annuity or occupational annuity, the individual account rights of the original enterprise annuity should be transferred to the new employer's enterprise annuity or occupational annuity. If the new employer has not established it, or if the employee is studying, joining the military, or unemployed, the original enterprise annuity individual account can be temporarily managed by the original institution or temporarily managed by the reserve account set up by the collective plan initiated by the legal trust institution; if the original trustee is the enterprise annuity council, the enterprise and employees can negotiate and choose a legal trust institution to manage it. "The opinions propose to accelerate the construction of a national enterprise annuity information platform and database, providing convenient services for employees to inquire about information, transfer and inherit benefits, and apply for benefits. This helps to ensure that the rights of employees in enterprise annuities will not be compromised during the process of cross-regional, cross-industry, and cross-enterprise mobility." said Lu Quan. Next, relevant departments will select some qualified areas (industrial parks, industrial parks, reform pilot zones, economic and technological development zones, technology entrepreneurship parks, etc.) to carry out pilot projects to expand the coverage of enterprise annuities, focusing on exploring entry methods, management models, organizational mechanisms, etc. at the same time, strengthen the supervision of enterprise annuity funds and promote the safe and standardized operation of funds. This article is reprinted from "Xinhua News Agency", edited by GMTEight: Feng Qiuyi.