China will nearly double its pension insurance coverage by the end of 2015 to address the problem of a rapidly aging population, a senior official said on December 26, 2012.

As many as 348 million more people will be covered by the program over the next three years, bringing the total participants to 807 million, or about 60 percent of China's population, said Hu Xiaoyi, Vice Minister of Human Resources and Social Security.

The State Council, China's cabinet, decided to adopt the program in all counties nationwide in the first half of 2012 after earlier pilot studies.

By 2015, some 95 percent of the population will be covered by medical insurance, and insurance for work-related injury, unemployment and maternity will benefit 210 million, 160 million and 150 million people, respectively, Hu added.