Economy

Foreign workers to get equal social insurance benefits

By Wang Qian (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-10-30 09:12
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Foreigners working in Shanghai who have not been covered by social insurance policies before were interested in the new law.

"If there was some type of social insurance developed and offered to 'expats', especially the full-time expats who have been living and working in China for a long period of time, I would absolutely love to learn more and explore options and quite possibly would participate," said Joey Gu, a United States citizen who works as communications manager at CareerEngine Partner Network.

"The new law is just a beginning in the improvement of our country's laws pertaining to foreign workers, but it is a long road," Cui said.

She added that local respondent laws will need to be drawn up as soon as possible to further implement the new law.

"The local authorities must elaborate on which insurance is compulsory and which ones are not, and the punishments should be clear," she said.

But she said she is optimistic about the first step taken by the country toward foreign workers being included in the social insurance system.

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Foreign workers to get equal social insurance benefits MOF urges to strengthen social insurance

"It is good to see we are on our way to protecting foreign worker's social insurance rights, but there are still many illegal foreign workers in the country's manufacturing hubs, such as the Pearl River Delta region," Cui said.

During the first half of 2010, about 12.55 million people from overseas traveled to China, including 5.89 million for sightseeing and 800,000 people for business visits, according to the latest statistics from the bureau of exit and entry administration of the Ministry of Public Security.

At the end of 2009, about 223,000 foreigners held employment permits, Cui said.

In recent years, more and more foreigners from Southeast Asian countries have found jobs in labor-intensive areas and big cities in China. Unlike the wealthy investors and senior marketing and technical executives who have relocated to China from overseas in the past, these foreign workers are largely unskilled and unable to get work visas.

Cui said the difficulty in getting a work visa for such foreign workers has led to a boom in the number of illegal foreign workers in China.

The recovery of China's export sector and the shortage of workers in South China have resulted in a rise in the number of illegal immigrants from bordering countries, adding pressure on local public security and migrant population management authorities.

Xinhua and Li Xinzhu contributed to this story.

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