Chinese concerns about the inadequate and unbalanced pension distribution in the country have been revealed in government think tank survey.

Nearly 39.1 percent of the 2,000 people surveyed complained that pensions are too little to meet their living needs, according to a report released Friday by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Only 17 percent of the respondents said they can live off their pensions, the survey showed.

Elderly people in rural areas strongly complained about the rural endowment insurance system, as 78.9 percent of insurance buyers in the survey said the pension could not meet their living needs, while 56 percent of their urban counterparts complained about the same problem.

In comparison, only 3.8 percent of government staff have the same complaint.

"Different feelings from endowment insurance participants reflect the differentiated pension welfare system," the report concluded.

However, 76.4 percent of those surveyed said, in general, they are satisfied with the country's endowment insurance systems.