Senior citizens chat at a retirement home in Beijing. (Photo/Xinhua)
(ECNS) -- China will start operation of a pension investment plan next year, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said on Tuesday.
Li Zhong, spokesperson for the ministry, released the news at a press conference. The ministry, together with the Ministry of Finance, is deliberating on a plan of pooling and transferring funds, Li said.
We will take time on the plan and ensure local pension funds are in place, with the aim of initiating the investment in 2016, he added.
Although the exact amount of money that could be channeled into the stock market is still unknown, around 2 trillion yuan ($314 billion) will be allowed to be put in the market, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.
Provincial-level governments will determine the capital amount to be invested first while only institutions authorized by the State Council could operate such capital. Timing of fund entry into the stock market will be decided by the market itself.
By 2014, the pension funds for each of the nine provinces and municipalities had exceeded 100 billion yuan, with Guangdong (512.8 billion yuan) at the top, followed by Jiangsu (279.3 billion yuan), Zhejiang (263.2 billion yuan), Beijing (216.1 billion yuan), Shandong(193.3 billion yuan), Sichuan (192.7 billion yuan), Liaoning (128.9 billion yuan), Shanghai (126.2 billion yuan)and Shanxi (116.9 billion yuan).
China's State Council published its final guideline on investment for the country's massive pension fund in August, but restricted the maximum proportion of investments in stocks and equities to 30 percent of total net assets.
