10. Further Progress with Endowment Insurance in 2008

In 2008, the development of endowment insurance in China was characterized by four very noticeable features, namely focusing on the setup of an endowment insurance system covering urban and rural residents, formulating endowment insurance measures for migrant farmers and measures to ensure the transfer and continuity of endowment insurance, performing new trials for rural endowment insurance, and enhancing the pension level of business retirees. Discussions about these four problems, especially the first three, is intense. The existence of massive numbers of migrant workers is a unique phenomenon in contemporary China's process of industrialization and urbanisation. The establishment of the goal to build a social insurance system for urban and rural areas has created the conditions and environment to accelerate the construction of a rural endowment insurance system. Keywords: China; endowment insurance; migrant workers; rural endowment insurance system