The rate of return on capital for pension system in China

The rate of return on capital is a key parameter in pension reform policy making. While evaluating pension reform, the method Feldstein proposed to measure the rate of return on capital is widely adopted. Here we calculate the rate of return on capital in China by this method. The calculation demonstrates that the rate of return on all the industrial enterprises is around 6.5 percent from 1996 to 2000, and the average rate of return on state-owned industrial enterprises is lower than the above figure by 1.5 percent during the same period. Finally, we draw a conclusion that the rate of return ranging from 5 to 7 percent is appropriate for the pension reform in China.