China: MHRSS publishes Interim Measures requiring all Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan residents working in China to contribute to social insurance beginning in 2020

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the PRC recently released the Interim Measures for Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan Residents (the “HMT”) to Participate in Social Security (the “Interim Measures”), which shall become effective as from 1 January 2020.

The Interim Measures provide that any HMT residents who are employed by entities legally registered in Mainland China, shall all participate in the basic pension insurance, the basic medical insurance, the work-related injury insurance, the unemployment insurance, and the maternity insurance. This means that HMT residents shall contribute to all five categories of social insurance and their employers could thus bear a heavier burden of social security payments than they had before. The employer should pay close attention to the clause that specifies “residents who already participated in the local social insurance and intend to keep such insurance relationship at their original place of abode, are not required to contribute to pension and unemployment insurance with the certificate from the authorised institution”. However, as the detailed implementation rules have not been published yet, the specific method for the social contribution of HMT residents may vary in different cities in China.