Yet another area of deep reform and again, it affects the quality of life and pockets of all citizens. Yes, we do have various national policies already, as we've done a lot and achieved a lot during the past three decades or more, but they only cater for lower level, basic needs. Things turn critical when dealing with the needs of urban and rural poor, the massive number of inter-provincial migrants seeking better jobs, better income, better education and better health care. As the government has promised to alleviate poverty for the last 70 million people within five years in its endeavor to build a moderately prosperous society, a unified social safety network is a must - bottom line - against all odds. For this and more, my colleague Nick Lanigan speaks to Prof. XIONG Yuegen, Director of the Center for Social Policy Research in the Department of Sociology, Peking University. Different choices with different implications. That needs a balanced approach, to calculate the pros and cons, especially when the country is at a critical turning point in terms of population dividend - quick aging, meaning getting old long before getting rich, and a very low reproduction birth rate. Delaying the retirement age to increase productivity may be of help, but it's limited.  Easing birth restrictions to increase the labor force? It will take time, and young couples are reluctant to have a second child.  What's at stake for social security is pensions for today and tomorrow. With this and more in mind, Nick Lanigan is now joined by Dr. Jennifer Holdaway, Program Director of the China Environment and Health Initiative at the Social Science Research Council.