The latest audit reports from various regions of the Chinese Communist Party have once again exposed the loopholes in the supervision of pension funds. In the fiscal year 2024, seven provinces and cities have been identified for irregularities in the distribution of pension benefits, with amounts exceeding 80 million yuan. The list includes deceased individuals, inmates, and even cases of double-dipping.
According to financial statistics, recent audit reports released by audit departments in 26 provinces have highlighted irregularities in the distribution of pension funds in some local institutions. The total amount involved has exceeded 80 million yuan. This includes instances where pension funds were distributed to individuals who did not meet the criteria, such as deceased individuals and inmates.
The reports reveal that in Jiangsu Province, due to delays in data comparison and lax reviews, 7 cities disbursed 25.7464 million yuan to ineligible individuals and made duplicate payments of pension benefits and funeral expenses totaling 2.2816 million yuan to 774 recipients. In Henan Province and 19 cities, the irregularities amounted to 27.1008 million yuan. From 2022 to 2024, in Shandong Province, 2 cities and 48 counties distributed 2.4148 million yuan to 505 deceased individuals. Jilin exposed irregular payments of 0.344 million yuan, while Gansu was involved in 2.9091 million yuan worth of irregularities.
A retired finance official in Beijing, Wang, believes that the audit results indicate a significant loophole in pension fund management. She told reporters that pension funds are crucial for social security but serious issues have been exposed in data matching, eligibility reviews, etc. For example, there are delays in updating data on deceased individuals, lack of smooth information sharing between regulatory agencies and civil affairs, public security. Moreover, local officials are involved in serious cases of concealing deaths, and falsely claiming or profiting from others’ pension benefits.
The audit findings in Beijing are particularly concerning. District-level social security agencies disbursed 19.5433 million yuan in pension benefits to 284 deceased individuals and inmates. Additionally, they paid 0.1724 million yuan in living care fees to deceased injured workers and distributed 1.9995 million yuan in relief funds to ineligible dependents. Chongqing made repeat payments totaling 1.7754 million yuan to 402 individuals due to institutional matching defects.
While audit departments attribute the problems to “information disparities” and “delayed data,” in today’s highly interconnected network environment, such explanations are difficult to justify.
A public policy researcher at a civilian organization in Beijing, Zhang Ping, analyzed that although the amount involved (over 80 million yuan) may not be significant in the overall fiscal picture of each province, it serves as a warning. He pointed out that this is not just an isolated incident but a systemic problem led by opaque information resulting from poor institutional design, lack of oversight mechanisms by local governments, and a tendency for some officials to be greedy.
Many netizens also criticized the phenomenon as not mere occasional errors but self-serving corruption. A netizen from Shandong commented, “Who pockets the money in the end? Even primary school students could uncover this, yet it took an audit to reveal it.”
A netizen from Sichuan questioned, “We contribute our hard-earned money. If even the deceased and inmates can receive it, how can the country be trusted?”
Another comment raised doubts about the official explanations being too superficial: “Bank transactions are traceable in real-time, telecom fraud can be tracked, yet pension funds cannot? This is not a technical issue but a deliberate act of overlooking by some.”
A lawyer from Zhejiang, Zhou Yang, noted that the pension system and bureaucratic system on the mainland have long been “dilapidated.” He cited a recent case he handled where a civil servant received pension benefits meant for a deceased individual for a staggering 18 months. Connecting the issues of pension funds with the corruption cases in the social security field in recent years, he emphasized how these “small loopholes” often foster corruption.
An economic researcher pointed out that the 80 million yuan figure is just the tip of the iceberg, stating that without audit sampling, more hidden funds may have already been lost. Authorities should establish a cross-departmental data sharing and real-time monitoring system, holding specific officials accountable to prevent audit reports from becoming mere formalities.
However, he added, “Without addressing the systemic issues, any measures taken would only be superficial gestures.”
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate of the Chinese Communist Party website previously reported on April 19, 2024, that in handling cases, some individuals engaged in illegal activities by fraudulently using false lawsuits and false labor arbitration to obtain national pension insurance funds. It was emphasized that such actions constitute illegal acts of defrauding or misappropriating the national social security fund. According to Article 88 of the Social Insurance Law, those who defraud social security funds should be ordered to return the funds and be fined, with severe cases potentially facing criminal liability.