China passes law on servicepeople's insurance

BEIJING - China's top legislature on Friday passed the law on servicepeople's insurance, the country's first act concerning the welfare of servicepeople and their spouses.

After four readings since last December, the law was adopted at the four-day bimonthly session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee that closed Friday.

The law defines insurance policies covering death, injury and illness during enlistment, as well as medical insurance and pensions for veterans.

The law exempts service members from paying premiums for their death and injury insurance and provides that premiums will be covered by the state.

In addition, unemployed spouses of servicepeople who follow their husbands or wives to where they are stationed should join medical insurance and pension programs. The premiums will be paid jointly by themselves and the government, according to the law.

Writing the existing insurance policies of service members into a law will enhance the authority and restraint of these policies, said Sun Huangtian, head of the financial division of the General Logistics Department of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

The law will be conducive to effectively implementing the policies and improving the welfare of servicepeople, Sun said.

Service members face various risks when serving their duties in military training exercises and activities such as disaster relief, peacekeeping, maintaining stability and missions abroad, he said.

Good insurance policies will help them adapt to military life and serve their duties well, he said.

The law also clarifies the duties of armed forces and civilian government departments in supporting pension programs for veterans.

Under the new law, the armed forces can also introduce commercial insurance programs and cooperative insurance programs for service members, which will benefit the welfare of servicepeople, Sun said.

The law also improves supervision on the management of a special fund for servicepeople's insurance, which mainly comes from the central budget, he added.