下調社保費率 (xià tiáo shè bǎo fèi lǜ): Lowering social security premiums

During a news conference on March 16, Premier Li Keqiang said it is feasible to moderately lower social insurance premiums and those for the housing fund, in order to ease some of the burden on enterprises and let employees have more cash in hand.

The 13th Five Year Plan (2016-20) also advances reducing the premiums for social security, and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security recently said it had been conducting a feasibility study.

More than 12 provincial-level regions, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Tianjin, Gansu and Jiangxi, have issued documents on reducing social security premiums, generally focusing on work-related injury insurance, unemployment insurance and maternity insurance.

Local authorities are lowering the premiums for these three social insurances due to the State Council's requirement last year, and because the funds of these three insurances in local areas have a surplus in their accounts. Thus the reduction of premiums will not affect the normal operation of the insurance funds.

And as social security officials in Shanghai have stated, reducing the premiums for these will not affect the payments made to insured individuals.