The excessively high mandatory contribution rate for employers and employees to the pension fund, which is 40 percent at my company, has become a heavy burden especially for struggling manufacturing firms in China and should be lowered, because it has even affected their efforts to expand production and conduct industrial upgrading.

Li Dongsheng, a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC) and chairman of home appliance manufacturer TCL Corp, told the Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday.

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