Article 1 In order to protect the legitimate rights of foreign workers in China to participate in social insurance and enjoy the social insurance benefits in accordance with the law, and to strengthen the administration of social insurance, Interim Measures for the Participation of Foreigners Employed in China in Social Insurance (the "Measures") are formulated in accordance with the Social Insurance Law of the People's Republic of China (the "Social Insurance Law").

Article 2 For the purpose hereof, foreign workers in China means people without Chinese nationality who have obtained the Employment Certificate for Foreigner, the Certificate of Foreign Expert, the Certificate of Permanent Foreign Correspondent or other employment certificates and residence certificates for foreigners in accordance with the law, and have possessed the Permanent Residence Certificate for Foreigner, and have lawfully been employed in China.

Article 3 Any foreign worker employed in accordance with the law by any enterprise, public institution, social group, privately owned non-enterprise institution, foundation, law firm, accounting firm or other organization incorporated or registered in accordance with the law in China (the "employer") shall participate in basic endowment insurance for employees, basic medical insurance for employees, work-related injury insurance, unemployment insurance and maternity insurance; and the social insurance premiums shall be paid by employer and the particular foreign worker in accordance with the provisions.

Any foreigner who, upon signing an employment contract with a foreign employer, is dispatched to work in any branch or representative office of the foreign employer incorporated or registered in China (the "domestic work unit") shall participate in basic endowment insurance for employees, basic medical insurance for employees, work-related injury insurance, unemployment insurance and maternity insurance and the social insurance premiums shall be paid by the domestic work unit and the particular foreign worker.

Article 4 If an employer employs a foreign worker, it shall, within 30 days of the date on which the employment certificate is handled, make social insurance registration for the foreigner.

For any foreign worker who is dispatched by a foreign employer to work in a domestic work unit, the domestic work unit shall register social insurance registration for the foreigner in accordance with the preceding paragraph.

Institutions handling the employment certificates of foreign workers in accordance with the law shall promptly report the relevant information of foreign workers in China to the local social insurance administration agencies. The social insurance agencies shall periodically inquire about the status of employment certificates applied for by foreign workers with the relevant institutions.

Article 5 Any foreign worker who participates in social insurance shall enjoy the social insurance benefits in accordance with the law provided that he or she meets the required conditions.

If any foreign worker leaves China before reaching the required age to be entitled for pension, his or her individual social insurance account shall be retained and if he or she is employed in China again, the number of years in which social insurance premiums are paid shall be calculated on an accumulative basis; if the social insurance relationship is terminated upon written application by the particular foreign worker, the deposit amount of his or her individual social insurance account may also be paid to the foreign worker in a lump sum.

Article 6 Upon death of any foreign worker, the balance of his or her individual social insurance account may be inherited in accordance with the law.

Article 7 Any foreign worker who obtains social insurance benefits on a monthly basis outside China shall provide, at least once a year, a certificate of existence issued by the embassy or consulate of China in his or her home country, or notarized and certified by the relevant institution in the country of residence and certified by the embassy or consulate of China in his or her home country to the social insurance administration agency which is responsible for payment of the benefits.

Any foreigner who enters China in accordance with the law may prove his or her existence on his or her own to the social insurance administration agency without providing the certificate of existence specified in the preceding paragraph.

Article 8 If any foreign worker who participates in social insurance in accordance with the law has any dispute over social insurance with the employer or the domestic work unit, he or she may apply for mediation, arbitration, or initiate an action in accordance with the law. If the employer or the domestic work unit infringes his or her social insurance rights and interests, the particular foreign worker may request the social insurance authority or social insurance premium collection agency to deal with the matter in accordance with the law.

Article 9 For any foreigner whose native country has signed a bilateral or multilateral agreement for social insurance with China is employed in China, his or her participation in social insurance shall be governed by the agreement.

Article 10 Social insurance agencies shall, in accordance with the Compilation Rules for the Social Security Numbers of Foreigners, establish a social security number for each foreign worker and issue the social security card of the People's Republic of China to him or her.

Article 11 Social insurance administrative authorities shall, in accordance with the provisions of the Social Insurance Law, supervise and inspect the situation of the participation of foreign workers in social insurance. If an employer or domestic work unit fails to register social insurance in accordance with the law for any foreigner employed by it or pay social insurance premiums for him or her in accordance with the law, the matter shall be dealt with in accordance with the Social Insurance Law, the Regulations for the Supervision of Labor and Social Security and other laws, regulations and relevant rules.

If an employer employs any foreign worker who does not apply for the employment certificate or hold the Permanent Residence Certificate for Foreigner in accordance with the law, the matter shall be dealt with in accordance with the Provisions for the Administration of Foreigners Employed in China.

Article 12 The Measures will come into effect as of October 15, 2011.

Appendix: Compilation Rules for the Social Security Numbers of Foreigners

Appendix:

Compilation Rules for the Social Security Numbers of Foreigners

Any foreigner intending to participate in Chinese social insurance will be granted with a social security number consisting of the code of his or her country or region or valid ID number. A valid foreigner's ID is the passport or the Permanent Residence Certificate for Foreigner. One bit is reserved between the country code and the valid ID number, i.e.:

XXX                                   X                        XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
(Country or region code)  (The reserved)      (Valid ID number)

1. In terms of the country or region code of the foreigner, it is indicated by the three English letters specified in the country code listed in the first part of ISO 3166-1-2006, codes for countries and their regions, such as DEU for Germany and DNK for Denmark. In the event of an international standard upgrade, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security Department will determine when to upgrade.

The country or region code of the foreigner who is approved to stay in China permanently is the same as the 1-3-bit code in the Permanent Residence Certificate for Foreigner (also in three letters).

2. The reserved takes up 1 bit and it is 0 by default. In special cases, numbers from 1 to 9 may be filled.

3. A valid passport number for foreigners shall include all English letters and Arabic numerals, excluding special characters such as "." and "-". The Permanent Residence Certificate for Foreigner will be numbered with the 4-15th of the ID number.

(1) For example, a German citizen holding a passport number G01234-56 working in a Chinese employer will have a social security number of DEU0G0123456

Country or region code  The reserved    Valid passport number
DEU                              0                     G0123456

(2) For example, a Danish citizen holding a Permanent Residence Certificate for Foreigners numbering DNK324578912056 working in a Chinese employer will have a social security number of DNK0324578912056

Country or region code  The reserved    Number of the Permanent Residence Certificate for Foreigner
DNK                           0                    324578912056

4. The database reserves 18 bytes for foreigners' social security numbers (where the valid passport number is up to 14). If the number is less than 18, there is no need to fill in.

5. The social security number for foreigners is unique in China and will remain unchanged for life. When the ID number changes, the social security number at the time of initial enrollment registration is used as the unique identifier, and the social insurance agency will record the changes of the ID type and ID number of the insured.

This English version is only for reference. To learn more, please refer to the authoritative Chinese version.