China Foreign Hire: Build the Monthly Cost
Procedure to assemble the monthly cost of a foreign employee in China from salary, employer social insurance, and recurring permit charges, by city.
No published figure yet. The authority does not publish this cost in a form we could verify and quote, so this guide covers the procedure only: what to bring, in what order, and where it goes wrong. We will add the figures the moment there is a source for them.
In order
- Confirm the work city — Use the city where the employee will work and be enrolled, because local caps and charging rules control the calculation.
- Set the salary — Choose the monthly salary the business will offer; do not use a published rate because this is an employer decision.
- Identify the salary base — Find the declared salary base that applies locally and note the city cap that may limit it.
- Calculate employer social insurance — Apply the local employer contribution percentage to the applicable declared salary base, respecting the city cap.
- Amortise permit costs — Include the permit and its renewals, then spread those recurring charges across the covered months as a monthly cost.
- Total the monthly cost — Add the decided salary, employer social insurance contribution, and amortised permit cost together.
- Recalculate by city — Treat the result as an estimate and repeat the calculation for the relevant city, reviewing it before the permit expires or when local rules change.
The monthly cost of employing a foreign worker in China is made from separate parts: salary, employer social insurance, and the amortised cost of the permit. Because social insurance rules and caps differ by city, the same arrangement can produce different costs in different places. Treat any result as an estimate to be rebuilt for the relevant city.
Cost parts to include
Salary is the amount the employer decides to pay; it is not taken from a published rate. Employer social insurance contributions are a percentage of a declared salary base, and that base is capped according to the city. The permit and its renewals are recurring costs rather than a charge paid only at hiring. Spread their cost across the covered months to show the monthly permit cost.
City-specific calculation
Do not rely on a universal national total. Confirm the local contribution percentage, salary-base cap, and permit charging rules for the city where the employee will work. Because these rules can change, the output is an estimate rather than a fixed price. Recalculate it for each relevant city and whenever the underlying inputs change.
Result to produce
Add the decided salary, employer social insurance contribution, and amortised permit cost. The result is the estimated monthly employment cost per employee in the selected city.
Confirm before you act
Fees and processing times change. This page was checked on 2026-10-25; confirm the current rule with the authority named in each source above before you rely on a deadline.
Last checked 2026-10-25, next review 2027-04-23. Every figure above names its source and the date it was read. This page is a guide, not legal, tax or immigration advice — confirm with the authority before acting on a deadline.