Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang has urged the central Hunan Province to ensure the smooth implementation of the new rural pension pilot project and pave the way for a nationwide coverage of the program.

Zhang made the comment during an inspection tour to the province from Friday to Saturday.

Zhang said that farmers should join the program voluntarily and that local governments should offer guidance and advice to farmers.

The program is beneficial to hundreds of millions of farmers and any problem that arises should be dealt with in time, Zhang said.

China launched a pilot rural pension program in August that is expected to cover 10 percent of the counties by the end of 2009 and the whole country by 2020.

Different from the previous pension program where funding was supplied by the farmers themselves, the new scheme would be subsidized by the central and local governments.

Farmers over 60 will receive a monthly endowment of varying amounts set according to their area's standard income levels after paying a fee to join the program.

China has more than 153 million citizens aged 60, or 11 percent of the total population. A large part of the senior population is living in the countryside.