China Law Update

• Pages: 151-165

2010 CHINA LAW UPDATE 151

CHINA LAW UPDATE

I. LAW

1. Social Insurance Law of the People’s Republic of China

(promulgated by the Standing Comm. Nat’l People’s Cong., Oct.

28,2010, effective July 1, 2011.)

This is the first time for the National People’s Congress to

legislate a social insurance system. The basic social insurance

system, established in the Social Insurance Law of the People’s

Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as Social Insurance Law),

includes basic endowment insurance, basic medical insurance,

employment injury insurance, unemployment insurance and

maternity insurance attempting to guarantee the rights of citizens to

obtain material assistance from the state and society in case of old

age, illness, work-related injuries, unemployment and childbirth.

Legalization of the field of social insurance in China settles the

complex relations between different types of social insurances and

protects the rights and interests of citizens participating in social

insurance programs.,

Highlights of the social insurance law are as follows:

Firstly, the Social Insurance Law forms the basic framework of

the social insurance system in China. Compared with the unilateral

regulations of social insurance in the past, the Social Insurance Law

makes comprehensive and uniform provisions, which stipulate the

benefits of specific social insurance that individuals can enjoy, the

administration and supervision of social insurance funds, the social

insurance services that should be provided by social insurance

agencies and the various channels which social insurance funds

should be raised through, which include the insurance premiums paid

by individuals and the subsidies from the government.

Secondly, it has established the guidelines of “broad coverage of

insurants, basic insurance level, multiple types of insurance,” which

overcomes the institutional impediments that hindered the flow of

personnel and employment of rural laborers. In the past, the

endowment insurance system varied among different overall

planning areas and the transference of endowment insurance

relationship of those migrant workers was really difficult, which

discouraged them from participating in the basic endowment

insurance. However, this problem has been effectively solved by

the Social Insurance Law. According to article 19, when an

individual is employed in a different overall planning area, his or her