The Global Spread of Neoliberalism and China’s Pension Reform since 1978

This article treats China’s pension reform as part of the global spread of neoliberalism, arguing that China’s pension reform was a process of the triumph of neoliberal models based on individual accounts. Chinese policymakers emulated or learned from the ILO social insurance in the 1980s, Singapore’s central provident funds until 1995, and the World Bank’s model since 1995, and the national forces dominated that process until 1995, when the World Bank established itself as the driving force. China’s pension reform has been far from successful, as shown in the difficulties in funding the individual accounts and the issue of fragmented coverage. But the neoliberal model will continue to exist, largely due to the fact that once adopted it is hard to abolish, and the continual compromises among policymakers.