A comparative analysis of pension expenditure level

In the last twenty years, China's pension system underwent great changes. The two-tier pension system was introduced in 1998, and was significantly revised in 2006. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the development of pension expenditure level - the ratio of pension expenditure of GDP in cross-national context. At present, the urban pension system is the mainly pension system in China. This paper first analyzes China's urban pension spending from 1997 to 2010, then compares pension expenditure level of 31provinces in 2008, finally draws a comparison with OCED countries. The national and international comparisons demonstrate that China's pension expenditure is relatively low and the elderly share less economic development.