State Council takes measures to slash social insurance payment burden of firms

BEIJING -- China's State Council made arrangements Tuesday on reducing social insurance fee rates, clarified specific supporting measures and decided on the year's priorities for improving the business environment.

The decisions were made at a State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang in an effort to unlock market vitality.

According to the government work report delivered to the annual national legislative session earlier this month, China will cut the share of enterprise contributions to urban workers' basic old-age insurance from 20 percent to 16 percent, starting from May 1.

To meet the requirement, the meeting required local governments to reexamine and lower the upper- and lower-limits of the social insurance base and extend the policy of reducing the premium rates for unemployment and work-related injury insurances for one more year, to April 2020.

The meeting prohibited local governments taking any measure that may increase the payment burden of small and micro enterprises and banned forced payment on arrearage without prior approval.

Old-age pensions must be timely and paid in full, the meeting said.