In Zimpleman's opinion, having a private retirement system is important in moving China from an economy driven by exports to one sustained by internal demand. Such a system would also take care of one of the priorities of urbanization and balanced development of China's rural and urban areas.

Given the aging of its population, China needs a more robust and active pension system for retirement security, especially the defined contribution one, because the defined benefit systems are often difficult to manage the cost in a long term and create unsustainable financial obligations on many employers regardless of size, he said.

Pension reform expected in China

Based on a cooperative study by Beijing University and Principal Financial Group, Zimpleman predicted that further pension reform will happen in China.

The World Bank divided the retirement system into three pillars -- the government-provided social security, employer-based retirement plan and individual savings.

Zimpleman said that in the United States, social security benefit roughly provides half of retirement income. The other half comes through savings plus an enterprise annuity. But in China the private pension market is to a large extent underdeveloped.

When talking about the safety of a private retirement system, Zimpleman said a system provided by the government is not always securer.

"What is depended on in the case of enterprise annuity is the two regulators who are involved -- Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and China Insurance Regulatory Commission or China Banking Regulatory Commission," he said.

The dual regulatory authority should make sure the assets are invested properly and segregated properly, he said, adding that the most important thing is to have a clear separate accounting of the retirement contributions to avoid having that money mixed in with other sources of revenue.