Highlights regarding Labor Law in the Report on the Work of the Government in 2021

As stated in the Report, some of the main projected targets for development this year include:;

• modest GDP growth of over 6%
• the creation of over 11 million new urban jobs; and
• a surveyed urban unemployment rate of around 5.5%.

In order to reduce unemployment rates, the Report proposed the following specific measures:

1. Continuing to reduce premiums for unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation. From 1 May 2021 to 30 April 2022, in Guangdong, the work-related injury insurance premium rate will be lowered in phases by 50%. In Beijing, the unemployment insurance premium rate will be lowered in phases by 62.5%;
2. Expanding the scope of time-limited policies aimed at helping businesses maintain payrolls, such as the refunding of unemployment insurance premiums. For example, in Guangdong, premiums paid in the previous year will be refunded at the rate of 30% for large enterprises and 60% for micro, small and medium enterprises;
3. Extending the duration of policies on work-based training organized by companies. Shanghai will extend such policies to 31 December 2021;
4. Lowering the threshold for obtaining employment such as by continually updating the Catalogue of National Professional Qualifications and forgoing the requirement to obtain professional qualification for certain professions (e.g. accounting practitioners);
5. Relaxing or lifting the years-of-experience requirements for taking qualification examinations for some licence-based professions;
6. Continuing to subsidize contributions to social insurance made by workers in flexible employment; and
7. Allowing people to access social security in the locality in which they work, even if they do not hold local residency.

The Chinese government will also promote provincial-level unified management of basic medical insurance funds and realize inter-provincial on-the-spot settlement of outpatient bills through individual accounts for basic medical insurance.