Xi stresses high-quality development of social security

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has stressed improving the social security system so that it more fully covers the entire population and promoting the system’s highquality and sustainable development.

Xi made the remark while presiding over a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on Friday.

He urged efforts to intensify redistribution, strengthen mutual assistance and have more people benefit from the social security system so as to meet the multilevel and diversified demands of the people.

Improvements should also be made to have a sustainable multilevel social security system that covers the country’s entire population, coordinate the needs from urban and rural areas and be fair and unified, so as to further promote the sustainable and highquality development of the country’s social security undertakings, Xi said.

Members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee heard a report from an expert in the field and discussed related matters.

Xi reviewed China’s progress on establishing its social security system since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, emphasizing the leadership of the CPC and the institutional advantages of China’s socialist society as well as the principles of putting the people first and pursuing common prosperity.

Xi urged summing up the experiences of previous successes and optimizing China’s social security system.

Although China has basically established a fully functional social security system that covers the largest population in the world, the country still needs to attach great importance to and make practical improvements on the weak links of the system, as the principal contradiction in Chinese society has evolved and urbanization, population aging and employment diversification are speeding up, Xi said.

Social security is the most imminent and realistic issue the people care about, he said. He gave specific instructions on improving social security work during the 20212025 period.

In the new development stage, China should have a strategic vision and meet people’s expectations for a high-quality life, and increase risk awareness to make proper judgments in advance on new development trends such as population aging and changes in labor force structures, Xi noted.

Stressing that reforms in the sphere of social security should be advanced in a more systematic, coordinated and efficient manner, Xi urged efforts to accelerate the building of a multilevel and multipillar endowment insurance system to meet people’s diverse demands.

While integrating social assistance in rural areas into the rural vitalization strategy, the country needs to improve elderly care services and social welfare for the physically challenged and orphans, he said.

In terms of laws and regulations in social security, Xi called for efforts to advance the development of social security under the rule of law and strengthen related legislation.

Xi also stressed the importance of improving social security governance by optimizing administration and improving the quality of service. China should summarize successful practices in COVID-19 prevention and control and improve social security emergency-response mechanisms against major risks.