11 Per Cent Of China`S Fiscal Expenditure Goes To Social Security

China used 11.5 per cent of its annual fiscal expenditure for social security purposes last year, double the 5.52 per cent in 1998, a senior official said.

The Ministry of Finance earmarked 436.2 billion yuan ($58.2 billion) for social security undertakings in 2006, up from 59.6 billion yuan in 1998, with an annual growth rate of 28.3 per cent on average, vice finance minister Wang Jun said.

Of the total, 147.5 billion yuan was used for the laid-off from state owned enterprises, retirees, low income earners and job hunters, 11.3 times the 1998 level, and 132 billion yuan went to health and medical care projects, up from 41.4 billion yuan in 1998.

In 2007, the ministry set aside 11.4 billion yuan for the new cooperative medical care system for rural areas, up from 400 million yuan in 2003, Wang was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.