Promulgating Institution: Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security
Document Number: Decree No. 16 of Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security
Promulgating Date: 09/06/2011
Effective Date: 10/15/2011

  Article 1    These Measures are formulated pursuant to the Social Insurance Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the "Social Insurance Law"), with a view to safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of foreigners working within the territory of China to participate in the social insurance system and enjoy social insurance benefits in accordance with the law, and strengthening social insurance administration.
  Article 2    For the purpose of these Measures, foreigners working within the territory of China shall refer to the persons who: (1) do not have Chinese nationality; (2) have obtained the Employment Permit for Foreigners, the Certificate of Foreign Experts, the Press Card for Foreign Resident Correspondents and other employment permits and residence permits for foreigners pursuant to the law; (3) hold the Permanent Residence Permit of Foreigners; and (4) are lawfully working within the territory of the People's Republic of China.
  Article 3    Foreigners lawfully recruited and employed by enterprises, public institutions, social organizations, privately-run non-enterprise entities, foundations, law firms, accounting firms and other organizations duly registered within the territory of China (hereinafter referred to as the "Employers") shall participate in the basic employee pension insurance, basic employee medical insurance, work-related injury insurance, unemployment insurance and maternity insurance in accordance with the law, with the social insurance premiums to be contributed respectively by themselves and their Employers as required.
Foreigners who, after having entered into employment contracts with overseas employers, are dispatched to work in the branches or representative offices duly registered within the territory of China (hereinafter referred to as the "Domestic Work Entities") shall participate in the basic employee pension insurance, basic employee medical insurance, work-related injury insurance, unemployment insurance and maternity insurance in accordance with the law, with the social insurance premiums to be contributed respectively by themselves and their Domestic Work Entities as required.
  Article 4    Employers shall go through the social insurance registration formalities for the foreigners recruited and employed by them within 30 days from the date of going through the formalities for employment permits.
For foreigners dispatched by their overseas employers to work for Domestic Work Entities, the Domestic Work Entities shall go through the social insurance registration formalities for the foreigners according to the provisions in the preceding paragraph.
The agencies that handle the employment permits for foreigners in accordance with the law shall duly and timely report the information related to foreigners' working in China to the local social insurance handling agencies. The social insurance handling agencies shall enquire of relevant agencies the information on handling such employment permits on a regular basis.
  Article 5    Foreigners participating in the social insurance system shall be lawfully entitled to social insurance benefits as long as they meet the conditions.
Where a foreigner leaves China prior to reaching the statutory age for pension withdrawal as prescribed, his/her social insurance personal account shall be retained, and the contribution years shall be calculated on a cumulative basis if he/she comes to work in China again in the future. Alternatively, upon his/her written application for terminating the social insurance relation, the relevant social insurance handling agency may make a lump-sum payment of the money deposited in the social insurance personal account to him/her.
  Article 6    The balance remaining in the social insurance personal account of a deceased foreigner may be inherited pursuant to the law.
  Article 7    A foreigner who resides outside the territory of China and receives monthly payments of social insurance benefits shall, at least on a yearly basis, submit to the social insurance handling agency that pays him/her the benefits the certification of existence issued by the relevant Chinese embassy or consulate, or the certification of existence that is notarized or certified by the relevant authority of his/her residence country, and is then certified by the relevant Chinese embassy or consulate.
Where the foreigner has lawfully entered China, he/she may go to a social insurance handling agency to prove his/her existence by himself/herself and no longer provide the certification of existence as stipulated in the preceding paragraph.
  Article 8    Foreigners participating in the social insurance system in accordance with the law may apply for mediation or arbitration, or file lawsuits in accordance with the law regarding the disputes over social insurance with their Employers or Domestic Work Entities. Foreigners whose social insurance rights and interests are infringed upon by their Employers or Domestic Work Entities may also request the issues to be addressed pursuant to the law by the administrative departments of social insurance or the agencies collecting social insurance premiums.
  Article 9    Foreigners working within the territory of China who are nationals of the countries that have signed bilateral or multilateral social insurance agreements with China shall participate in the social insurance system in accordance with the said agreements.
  Article 10    Social insurance handling agencies shall, in accordance with the Rules on Preparing the Social Security Numbers of Foreigners, assign social security numbers, and issue social security cards of the People's Republic of China, to foreigners.
  Article 11    The social insurance administrative departments shall supervise and inspect the participation in social insurance system by foreigners according to the provisions of the Social Insurance Law. Where an Employer or Domestic Work Entity fails to go through the formalities for social insurance registration for a foreigner recruited and employed by it or fails to contribute social insurance premiums for such foreigner in accordance with the law, it shall be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the Social Insurance Law, the Regulations on Labor and Social Security Inspection and other laws, administrative regulations and relevant rules.
An Employer recruiting and employing a foreigner who fails to obtain the employment permit pursuant to the law or hold the Permanent Residence Permit of Foreigners shall be dealt with in accordance with the Provisions on the Administration of Employment of Foreigners in China.
  Article 12    These Measures shall come into effect on October 15, 2011.
Appendix:
Rules on Preparing the Social Security Numbers of Foreigners
The social security number of a foreigner participating in China's social insurance system shall consist of the code of his/her native country or region, and the number of his/her valid identity certificate which is either his/her passport or the Permanent Residence Permit of Foreigners. There shall be one (1) reserved space between the code of the native country or region and the number of the valid identity certificate. The social security number shall be in the form as below:
XXX                    X                       XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Where, XXX stands for the country or region code, X for the reserved space, and XXXXXXXXXXXXXX for the number of the valid identity certificate.
1. The code of the native country or region of a foreigner shall refer to the three English letters of his/her native country or region specified in the "ISO3166-1-2006" Codes for the Representation of Names of Countries and Their Subdivisions – Part 1: Country Codes. For example, the code of Germany is DEU while that of Denmark is DNK. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security shall determine a unified code upgrading time in the case of upgrade of the international standards.
The code of the native country or region of a foreigner who has obtained permanent residence in China shall be consistent with the country or region code reflected as the first three letters in his/her Permanent Residence Permit of Foreigners (also containing three letters).
2. The reserved space shall represent one number which is zero (0) by default, but may be any of the digits from one (1) to nine (9) under special circumstances.
3. Where the valid passport number of a foreigner is used in preparing his/her social security number, all the English letters and Arabic numerals therein shall be included, while special characters such as "." and "-" shall be excluded. Where the number of his/her Permanent Residence Permit of Foreigners is used, the fourth to the fifteenth digits therein shall be included.
(a) For example, the social security number for a German national working for a Chinese Employer shall be DEU0G0123456 if his/her passport number is G01234-56:
Country or region code Reserved space Valid passport number
DEU                                                  0                      G0123456
(b) For example, the social security number for a Danish national working for a Chinese Employer shall be DNK0324578912056 if the number of his/her Permanent Residence Permit of Foreigners is DNK324578912056:
Country or region code Reserved space Number of the Permanent Residence Permit of Foreigners
DNK 0 324578912056
4. The database has reserved 18 spaces for the social security numbers of foreigners (wherein, up to 14 spaces for a valid passport number). There is no need to make up for the unused spaces if a social security number contains less than 18 numbers.
5. A foreigner shall have a unique social security number in China which shall remain unchanged during his/her life time. In the event of changes in the number of his/her identity certificate, the social security number assigned to him/her upon the initial registration of social insurance participation shall be taken as the one and only identification number, while the relevant social insurance handling agency shall record the corresponding changes of his/her identity certificate.