In addition to increasing government officials' salaries to offset their losses in the pension reform, after which most officials will need to pay for part of their pensions before their retirements, the corporate annuities purchased for government officials will even further widen the gap between their pensions and those of average employees. Unlike governments, profit-driven companies are seldom willing to spend much on corporate annuities simply to benefit the retired lives of their employees. Eventually, a new and invisible double-track pension system would come into being despite the government's efforts to eradicate differences.

It is understandable to set up different pools of pension funds at the initial stage of the reform in order to maintain the welfare of the reform's target group to overcome the obstacles in the way of reform. Even though reform is a gradual process, however, the timetable for a unified pension system should be scheduled as soon as possible.

Besides, the purchase of annuities for government officials' retirement funds should only be accepted when the policy is legally mandated after rounds of nationwide discussions and hearings. The mainland should learn from Hong Kong and Singapore and deprive those in government who violate the law of any entitlements to enjoy annuities.

The author is a Shanghai-based editor.

The article was translated by Wu Jin. The original unabridged version was first published in Chinese.

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