China increases payments for police martyr families

China will raise payments to families of police officers killed or disabled in the line of duty, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said on Friday.

The new regulation states that the family of a police martyr will be paid an award that is equivalent to 30 times the previous year's urban per capita disposable income.

The family will also receive a compensation that will be equivalent to 20 times the previous year's urban per capita disposable income plus 40 months of salaries as earned by the officer at the time of death.

The family of an officer who died while serving his/her duty but is not recognized as a martyr will receive the same compensation but without the above-mentioned award.

The family of an officer who died from illness will receive a compensation that will be equivalent to two times the previous year's urban per capita disposable income plus 40 months of salaries as earned by the officer at the time of death.

Urban per capita disposable income in 2013 was just under 27,000 yuan, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.