With more foreign nationals than ever coming to Hainan province to live and work, the question of whether they can participate in China’s basic social and medical insurance schemes has become increasingly common. So, can expats living long-term in Hainan enroll in social insurance?

Q1: Who is eligible to participate?

Case 1:

Employers registered within the Chinese mainland (excluding the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan region) that hire foreign nationals in accordance with the law shall participate in employee basic pension insurance, employee basic medical insurance, work-related injury insurance, unemployment insurance, and maternity insurance in accordance with the law (from October 2019, employee maternity insurance and basic medical insurance in Hainan were merged into a single contribution).

Case 2:

China has signed bilateral or multilateral agreements with certain countries to provide mutual exemptions on paying certain types of social insurances. Nationals of these countries employed within China shall participate in social insurance in accordance with the provisions of such agreements.

Case 3:

Unemployed foreign nationals holding permanent resident ID cards can voluntarily participate in basic medical insurance for urban and rural residents and basic pension insurance for urban and rural residents in their place of residence.

Note:

Foreigners who have reached or exceeded the legal retirement age in China when starting work shall not apply for social insurance registration.

Q2: How can employers enroll foreign employees in social insurance?

Employers registered within the Chinese mainland (excluding the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan region) that hire foreign nationals in accordance with the law shall participate in employee basic pension insurance, employee basic medical insurance, work-related injury insurance, unemployment insurance, and maternity insurance in accordance with the law (from October 2019, employee maternity insurance and basic medical insurance in Hainan were merged into a single contribution).

Employers who recruit the aforementioned personnel in accordance with the law shall present their (the employees') valid identification documents, as well as proof of employment, such as labor contracts, employment contracts, and foreign work permits, to handle social insurance registration and pay social insurance contributions on their behalf.

For foreign nationals registering for social insurance for the first time, the employer's designated representative should bring the above materials to the social security institution where the employer is registered to handle social insurance registration procedures.

Official WeChat Account of Hainan Social Insurance (Medical Insurance) Service Center at “hainanshebaoyibao” and Hainan International Media Center contributed to the story.