China offers an immense, fast-moving talent market with social-insurance and housing-fund rules set city by city. All-in employer cost runs around 1.35x the gross salary in major cities. Here is what to know before your first China hire.
Employment runs under the Labour Contract Law, with mandatory written contracts and enrolment in five social insurances plus a housing fund whose rates vary by city. A worker without a written contract can claim double wages.
Minimum wages are set by each province and city and revised periodically*, so the figure depends on where the employee works.
Monthly payroll. A 13th-month or Spring Festival bonus is customary but not statutory.
Seven public holidays a year, often bundled into longer breaks with make-up working days.
A written contract is mandatory. Probation runs from one to six months depending on contract length, at no less than 80% of the role's wage.
Employer social insurance and housing-fund contributions vary widely by city but commonly add around 30-40% on top of salary in tier-one cities.
Each city sets contribution bases with a floor and ceiling tied to the local average wage, so the effective cost depends heavily on location.
Employees pay individual income tax on a progressive scale plus their own social-insurance and fund share, withheld at source. Withholding is the employer's responsibility, which under EOR means ours.
Statutory paid annual leave is 5 days after one year of total work experience, 10 after ten years, and 15 after twenty.
98 days of national maternity leave, extended substantially by many provinces, funded through maternity insurance.
Set by province, commonly around 15 days, funded per local rules.
Paid at a percentage of wages on a scale tied to tenure, with a medical-treatment period protected by law.
Termination needs a statutory ground and usually 30 days' notice or pay. Unilateral dismissal without a valid ground can mean double statutory severance.
Statutory severance is one month's pay per year of service, capped at three times the local average wage and at twelve years for high earners.
One to six months by contract length, with limited grounds to dismiss even during probation.
Labour dispatch and disguised contracting are tightly regulated; a contractor working like an employee can trigger back contributions and double-wage claims.
*All figures are estimates from public sources (2025-26), pending ops verification - same basis as the EOR cost calculator. Not tax or legal advice.
Compliant Chinese labour contract, payroll, social insurance, and housing fund, handled. One invoice, flat $499 per month.