The Ministry of Finance (MOF) has urged financial departments at all levels to increase the investment in social insurance during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015), the Economic Observer reported on Saturday.

Ministry officials requested the financial departments to increase the expenditure in social insurance to around 25 percent of the total financial expenditure. Currently, the expenditure in social insurance accounted for 10 percent of the government's financial expenditure.

More groups should be covered by social insurance in order to realize a real "social insurance for all", Wang Jun, vice-minister of finance, said earlier this month at a meeting held in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, according to the report.

An MOF official said that during the 12th Five-Year Plan period, more emphasis would be put on rural areas to narrow the gap between the urban and rural areas in social insurance.

As expenditure in social security funds has been increasing more rapidly than input for years, the ministry would also make efforts to reduce the potential risks, the newspaper said.

(China Daily September 26, 2010)