Socialinsurance exemption for foreigners can be a valuable asset foremployers and foreign employees to save on unnecessary costs.However, many companies hiring eligible employees are not aware ofthe benefits available to them, while those who do are often unsureas to how to go about applying.
外国人的社会保险豁免对雇主和外国雇员来说是一笔宝贵的财富 ， 可以节省不必要的成本 。然而，许多雇佣符合条件的员工的公司并不知道他们可以获得的福利，而那些知道的公司往往不确定如何申请 。
China’ssocial security system consists of five different types ofinsurance, plus one mandatory housing fund. The five “insurances”are pension, medical, unemployment, work-related injury, andmaternity insurances.
中国的社会保障体系包括五种不同类型的保险，以及一项强制性住房公积金 。这五项“保险”是养老保险、医疗保险、失业保险、工伤保险和生育保险 。
Thepremiums for pension, medical, unemployment insurance, and mandatoryhousing found are jointly contributed to by the employer andemployee, while the premiums for work-related injury and maternityinsurance are solely contributed to by the employer.
养老保险费、医疗保险费、失业保险费和强制性住房保险费由用人单位和劳动者共同缴纳，工伤保险费和生育保险费由雇主单独缴纳 。
Whileregional authorities manage the social insurance system –not all regional governments have enacted the implementation rulesfor China’s international social security agreements.
虽然地区当局管理着社会保险体系，但并非所有地区政府都制定了中国国际社会保障协议的实施规则 。
Chinahas signed social security agreements with 12 countries, but only 11such agreements have been implemented. Currently, expatriates fromGermany, South Korea, Denmark, Canada, Finland, Switzerland, theNetherlands, Spain, Luxembourg, Japan, and Serbia areeligible for social security exemptions across China.
中国已经与12个国家签署了社会保障协议，但只有11个国家实施了此类协议 。目前 ， 来自德国、韩国、丹麦、加拿大、芬兰、瑞士、荷兰、西班牙、卢森堡、日本和塞尔维亚的外籍人士有资格在中国各地享受社会保障豁免 。
Inthis article, we look at who is eligible for exemption and how toapply.
在这篇文章中，我们将探讨谁有资格获得豁免以及如何申请 。
Socialinsurance in China
中国的社会保险
TheMinistry of Human Resources and Social Security requires foreignemployees working in China to participate in its socialinsurance scheme as detailed in the Interim Measures for theParticipation in Social Insurance of Foreigners Employed inChina, 2011.
人力资源和社会保障部要求在中国工作的外国雇员参加其社会保险计划，详见《2011年在中国就业的外国人参加社会保险暂行办法》 。
Accordingto Chinese labor law, any foreigner employed by a legally registeredentity in China or any foreigner dispatched to a registered branch orrepresentative office of a foreign company – must participatein basic pension insurance for employees, basic medical insurance foremployees, work injury insurance, unemployment insurance, andmaternity insurance.
根据中国劳动法 ， 任何受雇于在中国合法注册的实体的外国人，或任何被派遣到外国公司注册分公司或代表处的外国人，都必须参加员工基本养老保险、员工基本医疗保险、工伤保险、失业保险和生育保险 。
However,since social insurance is managed at a regional level, a range ofinconsistencies exist among cities. As a result, most major citieshave implemented their respective requirements for foreign employees.
然而，由于社会保险是在地区一级管理的，因此城市之间存在一系列不一致之处 。因此，大多数大城市都实施了各自对外籍员工的要求 。
Forexample, in cities such as Beijing, Tianjin, Shenzhen,and Nanjing, among many others, social insurance payments arecompulsory for foreign employees – who are treated in the sameway as domestic workers. On the other hand, Shanghai doesnot currently require foreign employees to contribute towards socialinsurance.
例如，在北京、天津、深圳和南京等城市，外籍员工必须缴纳社会保险，他们的待遇与家政工人相同 。另一方面，上海目前不要求外籍员工缴纳社会保险 。
Sinceall regional authorities have not implemented rules in accordancewith international social security agreements – which increasesthe difficulty in obtaining exemptions – employees fromcountries that have agreements with China are eligible for socialinsurance exemptions.
由于所有地区当局都没有根据国际社会保障协议实施规则，这增加了获得豁免的难度 ， 因此来自与中国有协议的国家的员工有资格获得社会保险豁免 。
Todate, 11 such agreements have been implemented between China, and thefollowing countries: Germany, Korea, Denmark, Canada, Finland,Switzerland, the Netherlands, Spain, Luxembourg, Japan, andSerbia.
迄今为止，中国与以下国家已经实施了11项此类协议：德国、韩国、丹麦、加拿大、芬兰、瑞士、荷兰、西班牙、卢森堡、日本和塞尔维亚 。
Chinahas also signed agreements with France and Serbia; these agreementsare not yet in effect.
中国还与法国和塞尔维亚签署了协议；这些协议尚未生效 。
Applicablecountries
适用国家/地区
Allexisting agreements define the groups of employees eligible forexemption and lay out the categories of social insurance for whichemployees are exempt from paying.
所有现有协议都定义了有资格获得豁免的员工群体 ， 并规定了员工免于支付的社会保险类别 。
Inturn, Chinese employees sent to the participating country will alsobe exempt from making the relevant social insurance contributionsthere.
反过来 ， 被派往参与国的中国雇员也将免于在那里缴纳相关的社会保险费 。
Socialinsurance exemptions are only available to a defined group of laborcategories, and not to all foreign employees.
社会保险豁免仅适用于特定的一组劳动类别，而不适用于所有外国雇员 。
The11 bilateral agreements with China for social insurance paymentexemptions that have been implemented are shown in the table below.
已实施的与中国的11项社会保险支付豁免双边协议如下表所示 。
Forexample, the China-Japan social insurance agreement, which tookeffect September 1, 2019, will exempt Japanese nationals from China’sbasic pension contribution as well as exempt Chinese nationals fromJapan’s National Pension and Employees’ PensionInsurance.
例如，2019年9月1日生效的《中日社会保险协定》将免除日本国民的基本养老金缴款，并免除中国国民的国民养老金和雇员养老保险 。
Itwill apply to dispatched personnel, employees on board ships andaircraft, civil servants, and diplomatic and consular personnel ofeach side.
它将适用于派遣人员、船上和飞机上的雇员、公务员以及双方的外交和领事人员 。
Asto the agreement with France, which is not yet effective, detailsincluding the implementation date and range of exemptions will beannounced – once each country completes their respectivedomestic legal procedures.
至于尚未生效的与法国的协议，一旦每个国家完成各自的国内法律程序 ， 将公布包括实施日期和豁免范围在内的细节 。
Basicprocess for applying for premium exemptions
申请保费豁免的基本流程
Exemptiondoes not apply automatically, and companies with foreign employeesare required to apply to related bureaus for exemption.
豁免并不自动适用，拥有外国员工的公司需要向相关局申请豁免 。
Thoughthe process of applying for insurance premium exemptions variesacross regions, and according to the specific agreement under whichit is performed, it follows a standard formula.
尽管申请保险费豁免的过程因地区而异，但根据具体的协议，它遵循一个标准公式 。
Theentity that employs the foreign employee in China must submitoriginal certification of insurance issued by a relevant entity inthe country of origin to the local Chinese social insurance bureau.
在中国雇用外国雇员的单位必须向当地中国社会保险局提交原籍国相关单位出具的保险证明原件 。
Thiswill then be verified, and a copy will be held on record. Followingverification of this documentation, and possible further verificationand certification, the employee in question will be exempt from therelevant social insurance payments.
然后将对此进行验证，并将一份副本记录在案 。在对该文件进行验证以及可能的进一步验证和认证后，相关员工将免于缴纳相关社会保险 。
Thetime limit of the exemption period may vary.
豁免期的期限可能会有所不同 。
Foremployees from the Netherlands, for example, the maximum length ofthe exemption period is five years. If the dispatch period is morethan five years, the time limit for exemption will not be extendedfor more than one year.
例如，对于来自荷兰的员工，豁免期最长为五年 。如果派遣期限超过五年 ， 豁免期限将不会延长超过一年 。
Difficultiesof implementation
实施难度
Whilesocial insurance exemption agreements offer cost benefits toenterprises based in China, businesses should act in cautionregarding how they go about availing them.
虽然社会保险豁免协议为中国企业提供成本效益，但企业在如何利用这些协议时应谨慎行事 。
Althoughbilateral agreements for exemption are made at a national level,regional governments must implement the system locally.
尽管双边豁免协议是在国家层面制定的，但地区政府必须在当地实施该制度 。
Thisinvariably results in inconsistencies and varying levels ofimplementation at a local level, complicating the process forcompanies and foreign employees.
这必然导致地方一级的执行不一致和程度不同，使公司和外国员工的流程复杂化 。
DavidNiu, Senior Manager of Human Resources Administration and PayrollServices at Dezan Shira & Associates, explains: “Officersin social insurance bureaus are often unsure about how to implementforeign employee social insurance exemptions. Many cities have nolocal regulations relating to this topic, especially in second andthird-tier cities.”
协力商业顾问公司人力资源管理和工资服务高级经理DavidNiu解释道：“社会保险局的官员通常不确定如何实施外籍员工社会保险豁免 。许多城市没有与此相关的地方法规 ， 尤其是在二三线城市 。”
Heelaborates: “Cases exist where city-level regulation forinsurance exemption is not at hand from the local bureau. In suchcases, if a business makes the decision not to make social insurancepayments for their foreign staff, they may be challenged by thebureau for non-compliance during a later insurance inspection.”
他详细阐述道：“在一些情况下，地方局没有制定市级的保险豁免规定 。在这种情况下，如果企业决定不为其外籍员工支付社会保险 ， 他们可能会在随后的保险检查中因不遵守规定而受到局方的质疑 。”
Davidalso highlights a key grievance that emerges in this area in the caseof Shanghai.
戴维还以上海为例，强调了在这一领域出现的一个关键的不满 。
“Bylocal rule, female foreign employees are not required to contributeto maternity insurance in Shanghai, which can cause some disagreementbetween the employer and the employee. In case the foreign femalestaff needs to take maternity leave, the local social insurancebureau will not cover the payroll and relevant costs for the staffduring the leave.”
"根据当地规定，女性外籍员工不需要在上海缴纳生育保险，这会引起雇主和雇员之间的一些分歧 。如果外籍女性员工需要休产假 ， 当地社保局将不为员工支付产假期间的工资和相关费用 。
“However,from the employer’s perspective, they seem to have no legalobligation to compensate the cost themselves either. Thus, theemployer should reach an agreement prior to employing the staff todefine the future obligations and responsibilities to avoid labordisputes on this issue.”
然而，从雇主的角度来看，他们似乎也没有法律义务补偿自己的成本 。因此，雇主应在雇佣员工之前达成一致意见 ， 以确定未来的义务和责任，避免在这个问题上发生劳动争议 。
Finally,companies should note that failure to pay social insurance premiumswhen not in receipt of explicit consent from the local socialinsurance bureau bears an inherent risk.
最后，企业应注意在未得到当地社会保险局明确同意的情况下不缴纳社会保险费的行为具有内在风险 。
Therefore,it is essential to consult both the local social insurance bureau, aswell as relevant staff at the local labor bureau before taking anyunilateral measures.
因此，在采取任何单边措施之前，既要咨询当地社会保险局，也要咨询当地劳动局的相关工作人员 。
Additionally,seeking the help of an advisor is highly recommended. If appropriateprecautions are taken, these agreements can be beneficial tools forenterprises employing foreign staff in China.
【中国的社会保险：对外国人的一些豁免】此外，强烈建议寻求顾问的帮助 。如果采取适当的预防措施 ， 这些协议可以成为在中国雇用外籍员工的企业的有益工具 。
