People in the Chinese mainland have a reasonably high degree of optimism regarding financial security and living standards in their old age, an HSBC survey said.

Chinese residents also see the central government and themselves as the most important contributors to their retirement income, while the traditional view of "raising children for support in old age" is no longer prevailing, the survey found.

On the mainland, the majority of respondents are not worried about not being able to cope financially in the future and 76 percent of the pre-retirement generation, those between 40 and 59 years old, are looking forward to retirement.

Among the Asian economies surveyed, the Chinese mainland ranks highest in terms of the number of people looking forward to retirement.

The survey reveals that in the mainland 68 percent and 76 percent of pre-retirement respondents respectively see savings as the main source of retirement income.

For the pre-retirement generation, savings are followed by annuities (29 percent), selling assets (14 percent), shares (12 percent) and rental income from properties (8 percent).

For the retired, a higher proportion see savings and annuities as their main sources - 76 percent on savings, 34 percent on annuities, shares (8 percent), and rental income from properties (2 percent).

(Shanghai Daily June 30, 2008)