On 1 July 2011, the PRC Social Insurance Law came into effect.
In its Article 97, the new law very generally provides that
foreigners working in China are able to participate in the Chinese
social security system. However, from the law itself, it is not
clear whether such participation is mandatory or not.
On 10 June 2011, the PRC Ministry of Human Resource and Social
Securities issued the draft Interim Measures on Participation of
Social Insurances by Expatriates Working in China (the
"Measures") for public discussion. According to the
Measures, basically all expatriates working in China will be
required to participate in the PRC social security system in the
future. However, until now, the Measures have not yet become
effective.
