Every reporter Tu Yinghao Every editor Ma Ziqing
With the intensification of the population aging trend, China's pension financial market has shown great potential, gradually entering a new era of pension. Recently, Gan Weimin, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Ping An Annuity Insurance, said in an exclusive interview with a reporter from "Daily Economic News" that the past simple pension development model could not meet the people's growing pension needs, and it is urgent to develop and build a multi-level and multi-pillar pension insurance system. .
Gan Weimin, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Ping An Annuity Insurance Co., Ltd.
Image source: Respondents
The report of the Twentieth National Congress of the Communist Party of China emphasized that "the national overall planning system for basic pension insurance should be improved, and a multi-level and multi-pillar pension insurance system should be developed." Actively respond to the challenges brought about by population aging, and promote the realization of basic pension services for all elderly people. At this stage, the issue of old-age care is no longer a matter of personal interests, but the focus of national strategies and the attention of the whole society.
Gan Weimin said that pension financial institutions, especially pension insurance companies, should play an important role at this stage. Only by focusing on the main business of the elderly care industry and truly achieving "the first pillar, the second pillar, and the third pillar", can we effectively solve the problem of high-quality development of the pension security industry.
Population aging brings growing demand for elderly care market
Judging from the annual data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, by the end of 2022, my country's total population will be 1.4 billion, of which 280 million people are 60 years old and above, accounting for 19.8% of the national population, and 210 million people are 65 years old and above, accounting for 19.8% of the national population. 14.9%. According to the usual international classification standards, my country has entered the moderate aging stage (the international standard is that the proportion of people over 60 years old exceeds 14%). According to the forecast report released by the National Health and Medical Commission, the proportion of the population aged 60 and above in my country will exceed 30% around 2035, rapidly entering the stage of severe aging.
In Gan Weimin's view, China's population aging mainly has the following five characteristics: First, the scale of the elderly population is huge. As the most populous country in the world, China has more than 200 million people aged 65 and over, accounting for about 15% of the national population. Currently, one of the four elderly people in the world is Chinese. Some experts predict that the population over the age of 65 in China will reach a peak of 425 million in 2057.
Second, the population is aging rapidly. In 2001, more than 7% of China's population over 65 years old marked the entry into an aging society. In just 21 years, by the end of 2021, my country's population aged 65 and over will exceed 200 million, accounting for over 14%, entering a deeply aging society, significantly faster than other developed economies and the world average. For example, France only entered the country in 126 years Aging society, 46 years in the UK, 40 years in Germany, etc.
Third, the health problems of the elderly population are prominent. While aging is deepening, the life expectancy of my country's population is also continuously increasing. In 2020, there will be 35.8 million people aged 80 and over in my country, accounting for 2.54% of the total population. Facing the era of longevity, how to achieve "health and longevity" is the top priority for the elderly. I personally think that pension insurance institutions should think more and do more in this regard.
Fourth, the old-age dependency ratio has jumped, and the burden of old-age care has increased. Accompanied by the deepening of population aging, the birth rate is declining year by year. Some analysts pointed out that the old-age dependency ratio in 2020 will be 19.7%, which means that four young people will have to support one old man, and it is expected to exceed 50% in 2050, which means that every two young people will need to support one old man. The young people in the family are faced with the dilemma of being under pressure at both ends. "There are old people on the top and young people on the bottom" which also makes the family cost high.
Fifth, get old before you get rich. This has always been regarded as one of the main characteristics of my country's aging society, and it is also the main dilemma faced by my country's aging society. In my opinion, a stable cash flow income can support a high-quality retirement life.
According to the Statistical Yearbook published by the National Bureau of Statistics, the per capita consumption level in cities and towns in 2021 will be 37,994 yuan, and the per capita retirement benefits of urban workers in the same period will be 42,928 yuan (the per capita retirement benefits will be even lower considering the part of urban residents receiving basic pension insurance benefits), In the same period, the urban per capita disposable income was 47,412 yuan. It can be seen that the consumption of Chinese retirees is in a state of tight balance, and they may be stretched when they encounter sudden expenses such as serious illnesses, which will also increase the burden of supporting young people in the family.
The "expansion" of the second pillar is urgent
According to data from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, by the end of 2022, there will be 1.05 billion people participating in the basic pension insurance nationwide, and the cumulative balance of the basic pension insurance fund at the end of the year is 6,985.1 billion yuan. Judging from the data released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security in 2022, the annual per capita payment of employees is 43,300 yuan, and the annual per capita payment of residents is only 2,500 yuan.
Although the basic endowment insurance has achieved large-scale coverage, another standard "pension replacement rate" is still an important indicator affecting the quality of life of the elderly. At present, my country's pension replacement rate is only about 40%, which is not only lower than the international standard (70%), but even lower than the warning line (55%). In the future, as the population aging further intensifies, it may continue to decrease. This also means that the quality of life after retirement will be greatly reduced.
Based on the above data, Gan Weimin said, "It is not enough to rely on the first pillar alone to support high-quality retirement life. To plan ahead, it is recommended to make more plans for the future retirement life as soon as possible, then the second and third pillars are indispensable. .”
As an important supplement to the three-pillar system, the coverage of the second-pillar annuity is obviously lower than that of the first pillar. It is an enterprise-led occupational pension system. It is based on the enterprise's own economic strength and under the implementation policies stipulated by the state. Established supplementary pension insurance.
Basic Situation of National Enterprise Annuity in 2022
Source: Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security website
According to data from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, by the end of 2022, 128,000 enterprises across the country have established enterprise annuities, with 30.1 million employees participating, accounting for only 4.2% of the employed population. The market-oriented investment and operation of occupational annuity funds is steadily advancing. As of the end of 2022, the number of people participating in occupational annuities in 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government), Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and central units will only be 72 million.
From the perspective of development time, enterprise annuity has been developed for nearly 20 years. After continuous improvement and standardization, the expansion of the second pillar is also continuing to explore. From scratch, it has been implemented from pilot areas to unified implementation nationwide, but the number of people who have this guarantee is too low to meet the needs of the big family in the whole society.
Gan Weimin pointed out that the "expansion" of the second pillar is urgent. He suggested that more enterprises and units should join in the development and construction of the annuity system. On the one hand, through the annuity system, employees can achieve a happy life and improve their quality of life, so that they can have a sense of gain, belonging, and happiness in the enterprise; on the other hand, it allows employees to better integrate into the development and construction of the enterprise and the unit middle.
It is recommended to clarify the standards and specific requirements for personal commercial pension financial services
Compared with the first two insurance protection systems, Gan Weimin pointed out that the third pillar is the most flexible and voluntary protection plan, but it is also the smallest of the three pillars at present, and many ordinary people still do not realize its importance.
In recent years, the state and supervision have intensively issued relevant policies: In 2017, the State Council deployed to promote the development of commercial pension insurance; in 2018, individual tax-deferred commercial pension insurance was piloted in some areas, and Ping An Pension was honored to be the first batch pilot unit. In 2021, the term "third-pillar pension insurance" will be included in the government work report for the first time; in 2022, the personal pension policy will be officially implemented, and financial institutions will have a stage to compete on the same stage. "I believe that the development of the third pillar in the future will present a scene where a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend." Gan Weimin said.
Although various institutions have poured into the third-pillar blue ocean market one after another, there is a problem of single supply of financial products at this stage, and the phenomenon of homogeneity is serious. Gan Weimin said, “Currently there are few types of third-pillar endowment insurance, and the personal pension market has just started. Most endowment financial products including endowment insurance, funds, wealth management, savings, etc. are in the stage of policy pilot and market exploration, with small scale and wide variety. It is difficult to meet the diversified needs of old-age security. Financial institutions have not yet deeply explored and studied the targeted old-age needs of the general public, have insufficient segmentation of customers and markets, and lack of strategic product planning.”
Gan Weimin suggested that the state and regulatory authorities should clarify the standards and specific requirements for personal commercial pension financial services, so as to give professional pension financial institutions more room for development. On the one hand, this part belongs to the third pillar and will be included in the statistics of the third pillar scale. Certain standards and thresholds must be met before the word "pension" can be used in products, which is a policy requirement; on the other hand, the state and regulatory Departments should let go of pension financial institutions to develop more types of pension financial products, let all kinds of institutions show their talents, and strive to expand the market and meet market demand.
As a pension insurance company, Gan Weimin believes that in order to show unique market influence in the market, it is necessary to focus on the main pension business, give full play to its own professional characteristics, provide customers with high-quality products and services, and build a pension ecosystem to differentiate itself. The competitive advantage of the market, while ensuring the health and longevity of individuals, promotes the high-quality development of the old-age security business.
(Contributed by Ping An Annuity Shenzhen Branch)