Chinese Social Security Law

1.

Features of the Chinese
Social Security Law
Qi Zhong
Researcher
Japan Institute for Labor Policy and
Training

2.

Some problems with China's social security
system
(1) The problem of disparity between urban and rural areas
• The family register system
• Just like a visa to live somewhere other than your city of origin

3.

(2) The disparity between civil servants and regular workers is large
• the benefits of civil servants are much better than those of regular workers
• Regular workers: pay pension insurance premiums into a fund pool, and
adjust the amount received by the funds in the pool
• Public servants: take money out of the state budget directly, and much higher
• ⇒government seeks to unify the systems

4.

• (3) The number of people using the unemployment insurance system is low
• new forms of work related to the platform economy are heavily used(gig
economy)
• not necessary to get social insurance
• It is believed better not to join social insurance but to pass the money on to
workers
• the unemployed don't register as unemployed to get unemployment benefits
unless they have unemployment insurance
• More gig economy⇒ The unemployment rate seems to be lower

5.

• (4) Problems with the medical insurance system
• Japan: the government pays the entire amount if the cost of treatment
exceeds 50,000 yen per month.
• China: if the cost exceeds a certain amount, the out-of-pocket expenses are
proportionally larger

6.

Overview
• "Labor Insurance Ordinance“ for employees of government agencies and
state-owned enterprises in urban areas
• mutual aid system within each group of production organizations in rural
areas
• October 2010, the Social Insurance Law
• Distinction by family register and occupation has been largely maintained

7.

Social Insurance System
• In urban areas, there is a social insurance system for workers in the areas of
pensions, medical care, unemployment, workers' compensation, and
childbirth, but no long-term care insurance system.
• The expansion of the coverage of social insurance for peasant workers
(migrant workers from rural areas to cities) and freelancers has become an
issue, and the government is actively promoting coverage while developing
related systems.

8.

Pension system
• Type of pensions
• The public pension system includes the Basic Pension Insurance for Urban
Employees, the Basic Pension Insurance for Urban and Rural Residents, and
the Civil Service Pension, and there is a corporate pension as a supplement
to the Basic Pension Insurance for Urban Employees.

9.

• (1) The Basic Pension Insurance System for Urban EmployeesProvide stable
benefits from financial resources, including individual burdens, and guarantee
old-age income for employees of non-state-owned enterprises.
• The system consists of two parts: an individual account (savings method)
and a fund (levy method).
• (2) The Basic pension insurance system for urban and rural residents
• all citizens were covered by the urban resident pension insurance and the
new type of rural social pension insurance by the end of 2012
• "Opinion on Building a Unified Urban and Rural Resident Basic Pension
Insurance System" to integrate the previously separate "Urban Resident
Pension Insurance" and "New Rural Social Pension Insurance"

10.

• (3) Pensions for civil servants
• "Provisional Method for Processing the Retirement of State Civil Servants"
promulgated by the State Council in 1955
all funding was provided by the government,
the amount of the benefit was calculated based on the salary before retirement,
the pension was provided in constant proportion
there is no individual contribution and the benefits are generous
"Decision on Reforming the Pension Insurance System of Government Offices and
Government Business Organizations“(January 2015)
• Each institution pays 20% of wages and individuals pay 8% of wages as premiums,
with a minimum period of membership of 15 years or more

11.

• (4) Corporate pension plan
• A corporate supplementary pension system
• The number of members is lower than that of public pensions, and the
expansion of membership is slow
• The usage is limited to blue-chip companies

12.

• (5) Expansion of social insurance coverage, especially pensions
• Pension insurance coverage for peasant workers has not been advanced
• In 2014, the Basic Pension Insurance for Urban Employees covered
273,950,000 farmers and industrialists, but in reality, only 54,720,000 people
were enrolled.
• It is difficult for employers using low-income peasant workers to pay the
current high premiums(20% for employers and 8% for individual employees)
• the amount peasant workers have accumulated is not counted when they
leave their cities of work.
• "Opinions on Building a Unified Urban and Rural Resident Basic Pension
Insurance System"

13.

Medical insurance system
• (1) Type of system
• There is a basic medical insurance system for employees of urban enterprises
and their retirees, a basic medical insurance system for urban residents (nonemployees), a new rural joint medical system for rural residents, and a
medical assistance system for civil servants.
• In addition, there is a medical assistance system for the specific needy

14.

• (1) City Employees' Basic Medical Insurance System
• an individual account (individual savings) and a fund (social insurance system)
• a) Designated hospital system
• The co-payment rate for medical expenses is set lower for smaller hospitals, and
patients are encouraged to use smaller hospitals.
• b) Medical expense supplement insurance system
• separate from the basic medical insurance
• in order to supplement the burden of medical expenses when the insured person's
out-of-pocket expenses become insufficient

15.

• (3) Basic medical insurance system for urban residents
• Targets the elderly, disabled people, children, university students, and nonemployee residents who have not been covered before
• (4) The new rural co-operative health care system
• At the time of the collective economy, the People's Public Corporation and
others were collectively responsible for livelihood security, including medical
care.
• In the wake of the SARS craze, in 2003, the existing system was
reconstructed as a new type of rural cooperative medical care system

16.

• (5) Civil servant medical assistance system
• A system of medical subsidies provided on top of thebasic medical
insurance system for city employees
• For outpatient expenses, for the portion of outpatient expenses incurred in
the same fiscal year that exceed a certain standard amount of 1,300 yuan,
which is the standard amount of the basic medical insurance system for
urban employees, 95 percent of the amount is subsidized.
• For hospitalization costs, the city provides generous medical coverage for
civil servants, such as subsidizing 90% of the cost of hospitalization if the
cost is less than or equal to 50,000 yuan and 95% of the cost of
hospitalization if the cost is greater than or equal to 50,000 yuan.

17.

Minimum Livelihood Security System for
Urban Residents
• Those subject to the system are urban residents whose income is below the
minimum livelihood security standard.
• The minimum livelihood security standard is set by each local government,
and is generally 20-30% of the average wage in each region.

18.

Unemployment insurance system
• Urban enterprises and institutions pay unemployment insurance premiums in
accordance with two per cent of their gross wages.
• Employees of urban enterprises and institutions pay unemployment
insurance contributions at the rate of 1 per cent of their wages.
• Peasant workers recruited by urban enterprises and institutions do not pay
unemployment insurance premiums themselves.

19.

• In order to receive insurance benefits, the unemployed must meet the
following benefit requirements
• (1) The company and the individual have been paying unemployment
insurance premiums for at least one year before the unemployment.
• (2) The resignation is involuntary and not of the individual's own volition.
• (3) The unemployed person has registered for unemployment and has the
intention to seek employment.
• Benefit levels are determined by local governments, they shall not fall below
the minimum livelihood security standards for urban residents.

20.

• The duration of the benefit depends on the period of coverage prior to
unemployment.
• For more than one year but less than five years: up to 12 months of benefits.
• For more than 5 years but less than 10 years: up to 18 months of benefits.
• For more than 10 years: up to 24 months of benefits.

21.

Industrial accident insurance system
• It is necessary to obtain a Industrial accident certification
• Circumstances that should be certified as industrial accidents
• (1) When an employee is injured in an accident due to work-related reasons during working
hours or at the working place.
• (2) If the employee is involved in an accident and is injured as a result of engaging in work
that is in the nature of preparation or tidying up related to the job at the place of work
before or after work hours.
• ((3) If the employee has suffered violence or other sudden injury as a result of performing
his or her job duties during work hours or at the place of work.

22.

• (4) If the employee suffers from an occupational disease.
• (5) During a business trip, the employee is injured for business reasons or
goes missing due to an accident.
• (6) If, while on the way to work, he or she is injured in a traffic accident for
which he or she is not primarily responsible or in an accident on a city public
transportation, passenger ferry or train.
• (7) In other cases where a law or administrative regulation stipulates that it
must be certified as a work-related accident.

23.

• it is deemed to be industrial accident if
• (1) When a person dies due to a sudden illness during working hours or in
the department in which he or she works, or when a person dies even though
first aid was given within 48 hours.
• (2) Injured in the course of activities to protect the national interest or public
interest, such as disaster relief.
• (3) If the employee has previously served in the military and has been
wounded by combat or official duties and remains disabled, and has obtained
a Revolutionary Disabled Soldier's Certificate, but the old injury recurs after
he or she has worked.

24.

•Thank you very much for your
attention.