BEIJING — As of the end of the second quarter, China's enterprise annuity funds totaled nearly 1.98 trillion yuan (about $290.7 billion), up 181.1 billion yuan from the end of last year, official data showed.

The funds generated 70.9 billion yuan in accumulated investment income so far this year, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

The weighted average return on investment of the funds amounted to 2.99 percent in the second quarter, outperforming that in the previous quarter and the same period last year, the ministry said.

China launched enterprise annuities in 2004 as a form of a supplementary pension plan. In recent years, as the country's elderly population has increased, more and more employees have signed up for the annuity plans.

Data from the ministry showed that as of the end of June, a total of 99,693 enterprises and 26.37 million employees had joined such programs.