Civil servant salaries rise as state employees' pension burden grows

Some civil servants in mainland China could see their salaries increase considerably following recent reforms requiring them to begin paying into the national pension scheme, South China Morning Post reported, citing local media. Both reforms will be backdated to October, with some components of the civil service remuneration packages increasing by up to 50% or even tripling, according to a State Council directive cited by the Economic Observer. Professor Liu Xutao at the Chinese Academy of Governance said the real rises in income would be much smaller than those announced thanks to the pension reform.