The National Medical Insurance Administration issued the "Notice on Interim Delaying Payment of Company Partition of Basic Staff Medical Insurance " (Yi Bao Fa [2022] No. 21), and local governments e.g., Shanghai government issued the " Notice on Interim Delaying Payment of Employee Basic Medical Insurance". (Hu Yi Bao Gui [2022] No. 5), for eligible small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) stating that the company portion of the basic staff medical insurance for the period from September to November 2022 would be postponed without the need for application. 

The following are the key considerations from the Notice:

1. Companies other than SMEs will not enjoy the deferred payment policy.

2. Enterprises which have previously applied and enjoyed the deferred payment of social insurance premiums through the city's social security agency are not included in this policy.

3. SMEs can directly postpone the payment of a company’s portion of the basic staff medical insurance for the period from September to November 2022, or they can terminate this policy in advance according to the actual situation of the enterprise. After the termination, companies shall continue to pay the company’s part of the basic staff medical insurance premium as required.

4. In case a company has been incorrectly classified as a non-SME company, it could make the necessary corrections and amendments online to change its category to that of an SME and, after the change, it could postpone the related payment for the period from the month of category-change to November 2022. Should an SME be changed to a non-SME, it shall be deemed to have voluntarily given up the applicability of the delay policy after the change and shall not enjoy a postponement of payment. In this case, it would be necessary to continue to make payments for the basic staff medical insurance according to the regulations. The deadline for a category change from SME to non-SME or vice versa is set to midnight on November 24th, 2022.

5. The repayment of Basic Staff Medical Social Insurance, which has been postponed, should be made before February 28th, 2023, at the latest, and no late payment fee will be charged during the period.

At PHC Advisory, our team is constantly monitoring the most recent developments and incentives accessible to businesses in China. Feel free to reach out to us at info@phcadvisory.com to find out more about preferential policies in China that your company could benefit from.