During this year’s two sessions of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), a proposal by a People’s Congress delegate to increase the basic pension benefits for rural farmers over 70 years old has once again exposed the deep-rooted inequalities in China’s pension system. Economics professor Xiang Songzuo’s criticism of the authorities for “setting up discriminatory social security” has gone viral online, pointing out how the CCP’s power hierarchy is pushing millions of farmers into dire situations in their old age.
Delegate of the National People’s Congress and party secretary of Zhuangshang Village in Jiezhou Town, Yanhu District, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province, Lei Maoduan, put forward a proposal for addressing the rural elderly pension issues, known as the “Rural Elderly Farmer Pension Subsidy Project.” The specific measures include:
– Providing an additional monthly basic pension of 500 yuan per person for rural elderly people aged 70 and above, on top of the existing basic pension under the urban and rural resident basic pension insurance.
Financial blogger “Tom” considers this proposal relatively “conservative” as it limits the subsidy to farmers over 70, excluding those aged 60 to 70 who are also unable to work but are neglected by the system. The rural population in China is the largest but receives the lowest protection.
This kind of “charity-style” subsidy appears highly ironic when compared to the stark rural-urban disparities in pension distribution.
“Tom” also referenced the significant attention drawn to the disparities in pension distribution in China. A statistical report released by a local social security department in January 2023 sparked heated discussions online. The data revealed that, in a certain region, 75,500 enterprise retirees collectively received 178.85 million yuan in pensions, averaging around 2368 yuan per month; 13,600 governmental retirees received 69.09 million yuan, averaging about 5080 yuan per month; while 137,800 rural and urban resident pensioners only received 28.54 million yuan, averaging approximately 207 yuan per month.
He pointed out that less than 6% of governmental retirees are sharing around 25% of the total pension resources in society, while over 60% of rural and urban residents receive a meager 10%. In some areas, farmers receiving a monthly pension of 200 yuan cannot even afford a regular public lunch enjoyed by institutional leaders.
“Tom” emphasized that the low level of pension protection for farmers has become a structural issue, justifying the need to increase their pensions “legally and morally.”
Recently, a widely circulated speech on mainland Chinese networks by economist Xiang Songzuo also questioned the issue of social security disparities.
In his speech, he stated that many economists have been concerned about this problem. “The government claims that the people are the masters of the country, so citizens should be treated equally without discrimination. Why is there still a distinction between farmers and workers? Why is there a differentiation between officials and non-officials?”
Xiang pointed out that social security is funded by taxpayers, meaning it belongs to all the country’s citizens. “I have been advocating for years that after so many years of reform and opening up, such distinctions should not exist. Why are retirement and medical benefits for retirees from Beijing, Shanghai higher than those in other places? What’s the reason behind this? Why after so many years, the rural-urban gap remains unresolved?”
He mentioned that retired officials (public servants) are entitled to very high retirement benefits. For instance, in cities like Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Shanghai, a department-level official could receive up to tens of thousands after retirement, and bureau-level officials could receive even more.
“Meanwhile, the pensions for farmers are far below this level.” Xiang revealed that he had conversations with Morgan’s chief economist, who suggested raising the farmers’ 200 yuan social security to 1000 yuan. “I agree with that, but I think raising it to 1000 yuan is still too low.”
He stressed that even if total equality cannot be achieved in the short term, the disparities should be significantly narrowed, at least not to such high levels. Ensuring that farmers receive half or two-thirds of what others get should be a priority. Isn’t it about ‘governing for the people’? Gradually raising it to two to three thousand yuan per month is necessary.”
Xiang Songzuo’s speech resonated with many mainland Chinese netizens.
“The older generation of farmers has truly been discriminated against their whole lives.” “The farmers born in the 1950s have made great contributions to the country, similar to industrial workers. They ate collectively, worked collectively, built irrigation systems, turned in grains to the government, paid agricultural taxes. Now that they are old and unable to work, someone should take care of them. Their pension should not be so minimal.”
Some netizens questioned whether the CCP government would implement such policies, suggesting that self-reliance might be the only way forward for the people, as it’s challenging to ‘snatch food from a tiger’s mouth.’
For a long time, the CCP’s budget priorities have leaned towards maintaining stability, military defense, and internal system benefits, while treating the vast majority of farmers as disposable “human resources.” This exploitative model, which has persisted since the era of income disparities, has become China’s most significant structural crime.
Xiang Songzuo stated that China’s state-owned enterprises, whether owned by the central government or local governments, essentially belong to the whole nation. The profits generated by these state-owned enterprises should, in principle, be shared with all citizens. “It is entirely legitimate and necessary to allocate a certain percentage of state-owned enterprise profits each year to supplement social security.”
Blogger “Tom” proposed a solution that may unsettle vested interest groups: capping excessively high retirement pensions within the system so that they do not exceed the local average wage. The excess amounts could then be reallocated to the lowest stratum of farmers. Taking Shanghai as an example, where the average social wage in 2025 was approximately 12,434 yuan, reducing the excess benefits to privileged individuals could fund rural pension subsidies, not because of financial constraints but due to the lack of willingness from the government.