Social Security Agreement between China and Japan Effective September 1

September 3, 2019 Posted by China Briefing Written by Zoey Zhang Reading Time: 2 minutes

The Social Security Agreement between China and Japan took effect September 1, 2019, according to China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MHRSS).

The agreement will allow Chinese and Japanese nationals working in the other country to avoid paying part of the social insurance.

According to the agreement, Japan will exempt Chinese companies’ dispatched employees, employees on board sea-going vessels and aircrafts, members of diplomatic missions and consular posts, and civil servants from Japan’s two major local annuities – national pension and employees’ pension insurance. Correspondingly, China will exempt their Japanese counterparts from China’s basic old-age insurance.

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In addition, spouses and children of the above-mentioned Chinese nationals living in Japan may, under certain conditions, also apply for exemption from social security contributions during their stay in Japan.

The valid period of social insurance exemption for the dispatched Chinese or Japanese citizen should be no more than five years. Applicants need to reapply after five years.

To be exempted from China’s basic old-age insurance, the Japanese employees in China need to submit the insurance participation certificates issued by the Japanese social insurance agency to the local Chinese social insurance agency where they participate in the insurance.

To be noted, other than China’s basic old-age insurance, other Chinese social insurances are still mandatory for Japanese workers, even though the implementation situations vary between region.

The agreement is expected to resolve the problem of double payment of social security contributions between the two countries and further promote economic and trade ties and personnel exchanges.

So far, except for Japan, China has also signed social security agreements with 11 other countries, including Canada, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, Serbia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Nine of these agreements are in effect.

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