Hands-on guidance for expats interested in obtaining Chinese social insurances in Hainan

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ChronoCloud
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Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2021 4:18 am

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What are the Chinese social insurances and their benefits? Can the foreign talents that work in Hainan obtain Chinese social insurances? After foreigners purchase their Chinese social insurances, can they enjoy the same welfare and treatment as Chinese nationals? How do the expat talents in Hainan get their social insurances? In this article, ChronoCloud has gathered the answers to all these questions.

What are Chinese Social Insurances & Social Insurance Card?
According to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Insurance of the People’s Republic of China, foreigners who work legally in China should obtain Chinese social insurances, which includes medical insurance, employment injury insurance, endowment insurance, unemployment insurance and maternity insurance. And both the employee and the employer should share the fees. After the examination and approval, the social insurance department will create a social insurance number and issue a social insurance card for them according to relevant policies.

Can foreign talents obtain Chinese social insurances?
Can they enjoy the same welfare and treatment as Chinese nationals?
Yes! According to the Social Insurance Law of the People's Republic of China, foreigners who work in China shall obtain Chinese social insurances according to the relevant provisions of this Law. Specific measures for foreign talents who work in Hainan Free Trade Port to obtain social insurances shall be implemented in accordance with "Interim Measures for Social Insurance System Coverage of Foreigners Working within the Territory of China" (No. 16 of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social insurance) and other relevant regulations. As long as there is an employment contract signed between a foreigner and his or her employer, the employer should provide social insurances for the employee.

The "Interim Measures" clearly stipulates that foreigners with Chinese social insurances who meet the conditions shall enjoy social insurance benefits in accordance with the law. Therefore, as long as they meet the conditions, foreigners and Chinese nationals alike, can enjoy the same benefits of social insurances.

What are the benefits of the Chinese social insurances?

Medical insurance

Your medical expense will be largely reduced, plus more protection against major illnesses!

Foreigners who have obtained social insurance in China can enjoy the same benefits as Chinese citizens. With the medical insurance, you will receive a heath insurance deposit book and a social insurance card(or called “She Bao Ka 社保卡” in Chinese), same as those of Chinese citizens'. If you fall sick and get treatment in designated hospitals, you could enjoy the "real-time reimbursement", i.e. part of the medical fees will be covered directly by the medical insurance and you'd only need to pay your personal part, which could greatly reduce your medical expenditures!

Especially, for major illnesses that with large amounts of medical bills, the medical insurance of the social insurances could provide you with an important guarantee!

Foreigners holding a Chinese social insurance card can also get the Chinese Covid-19 vaccine shots free of charge!

Employment injury insurance

If you get injured when working or commuting for work in China, you can get compensation with your employment injury insurance.

While trying to fit here in the new environment of a new foreign country, expats in China may likely encounter some accidents. With social insurances which include employment injury insurance, foreigners can get compensated for any injury that occurs during work instead of worrying much for the treatment bills.

Endowment insurance

Once having paid for social insurances for certain years, foreigners can also receive their pension in China.

According to Ministry of Human Resources and Social Insurance, foreigners who have paid for social insurance for a period that amounts to over 15 years can receive pension after they retire, which is the same benefit enjoyed by Chinese citizens!

Some commonly asked questions for endowment insurance

Q: If foreigners have only paid for their endowment insurance for less than 15 years by the time they retire, what should they do?

A: Foreigners with permanent residence in China who have paid endowment insurance for less than 15 years before retirement can extend the payment time according to the regulation till reaching 15 years and then enjoy the Chinese pension. Foreigners who have not obtained permanent residence in China can apply to take out the amount of their personal payments for endowment insurance in a lump sum.

Q: How does expat talent take out the amount of their personal payments for endowment insurance in a lump sum?

A: For foreigners who have paid their endowment insurance as an employee for less than 15 years when reaching their legal retirement age, they may apply in writing to terminate the basic pension insurance relationship with the Chinese social insurance ministry and apply to take out the amount of their personal payments for endowment insurance in a lump sum.

Maternity insurance

If a female expat gets pregnant while working in China, she can get government subsidies with her maternity insurance.
According to relevant regulations, foreigners will enjoy the same maternity insurance benefit as Chinese citizens after paying for a sufficient number of years (usually for a consecutive period of 9-12 months, depending on the local policies). If the pregnant employee can not work due to pregnancy or childbirth and does not temporarily have any income, the government will provide necessary support.

Maternity insurance mainly includes two parts of benefits

A.Covering medical payments for childbirth
Female employee's medical fees including fees for examination, midwifery, operation, in-hospital treatments and medicines.

After the female employee leaves hospital, any fees incurred from childbirth-related illnesses will be covered by the maternity insurance; while spendings on other illnesses should be processed according to the policy of the medical insurance.

B.Childbirth allowance
The female employees are entitled to childbirth allowance when having their maternal leave and the amount of the allowance should be calculated based on the average salary of the company's of the previous year and paid by the government as the maternity insurance.

5.Eligibility to purchase an apartment in Hainan, as well as apply for housing subsidies!(Including buying/renting)
One of the conditions for Hainan talents to apply for housing subsidy welfare and purchase qualification.

Talents coming to Hainan after May 13, 2018 with full-time PhD degree and under the age of 50, master's degree and under 40, and bachelor's degree under 35 can apply for talents' housing subsidy or house purchase subsidy with the relevant proving material. The standard of the amount of housing subsidy is: PhD graduates 3000 yuan / month; Masters 2000 yuan / month; Bachelors 1500 yuan / month. To apply for the talents' housing subsidies one must provide the records of his or her personal income tax or social insurances.

According to the relevant policy of Hainan, to be able to purchase an apartment, at least one of family members (including themselves, their spouses and minor children) has paid personal income tax or social insurances in Hainan for no less than 12 months , while none of the family members owns an apartment in Hainan. Foreign talents can follow the same policy in Hainan to purchase apartments in Hainan.

How do foreign talents obtain Chinese social insurances?
Employers need to bring the valid passport, Chinese work permit and other employment certificates of the expat employee (Those with Chinese permanent residence permit shall provide their own Permanent Residence Permit), as well as the employment contract for social insurance registration at the local social insurance department where the company is registered in. After approval, the social insurance department will establish a social insurance number for the foreigner and issue the social insurance card accordingly

So if you are a foreign employee in a company, you may ask your HR to obtain your social insurance account, and guide you to go to a branch to get your personal social insurance card.

Required materials for obtaining your social insurance card:

① Foreign employees: Passport, work permit or other official employment certificates, as well as the employment contract.

② If holding a Chinese permanent residence permit, please provide your permanent residence permit and employment contract instead; no need to provide proving materials of the employment.

③ A 1-inch photo with white background.

Recommended locations to get your social insurance card in Haikou!


HNB West Jiefang Road Sub-branch (Haidian Island): No.9 Jiefang West Road, Longhua District, Haikou City


HNB Guomao Road Sub-branch (Guomao): No.38 Yusha Road, Longhua District, Haikou City


HNB Municipal Government Sub-branch (Wuyuan River, West Coast): No.5 Changbin Road, Changliu Town, Xiuying District, Haikou City


HNB Ziyuan Road Sub-branch (West Coast): No.5, Meilin Road, Xiuying District, Haikou City

Other common Q&As

Q: If foreign talents have reached the Chinese official retirement age when they come to work in China, do they still need to buy Chinese social insurance?

A: Foreign talent who has reached or exceeded China's legal retirement age when he or she comes to work in China will no longer need to purchase Chinese social insurances.


Q: If the passport number of foreigners has changed, do they need to go to the social insurance agency and change the information?

A: The answer is yes. When the passport number changes, one should go to the social insurance department and apply to have the information updated in a timely manner.


Q: What medical insurance can foreign talents enjoy?

A: Foreign talents can obtain Hainan medical insurance and are entitled to the same medical insurance as Chinese nationals. At the same time, foreign talents who come to Hainan for full-time work and are recognized as Hainan Class A and B high-level talents will be included in the scope of medical and health care services provided by the Provincial Health Commission. Those who are recognized as Class C high-level talents can enjoy annual health examination and other services. All Class A,B,C and D high level talents can receive commercial health group insurance purchased by the government and enjoy relevant benefits and services according to the insurance contracts.

Any more inquiries about social insurances in Hainan?
Please feel free to contact ChronoCloud for advice, or call the social insurance hotline:12333
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