BEIJING, June 8 -- More than 60 million people have opened private pension accounts since the introduction of China's private pension system in late 2022, data from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security showed.

In November 2022, the government-supported, voluntary and market-oriented pension system was open to qualified citizens in 36 pilot cities and regions including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi'an and Chengdu.

The mechanism allows Chinese citizens to contribute up to 12,000 yuan (about 1,687 U.S. dollars) annually to individual pension accounts to buy certain old-age financial products.

Currently, there are 762 special products for the private pension system. Among them, 465 are saving products, 192 are fund products, 82 are insurance products and 23 are asset management products.

Data also revealed that middle and high income group aged from 31 to 40 have shown the strongest interest in opening such pension accounts and purchasing relevant products to prepare for their retirement in advance and enjoy tax incentives.

China has a three-pillar old-age insurance mechanism, covering the national basic old-age insurance, the enterprise and occupational annuities, and the commercial old-age financial products and the private pension system.

In the next stage, efforts will be made to further promote the coverage of the private pension system, the ministry said.