Do foreign workers in China need to contribute to the housing fund?

Foreign individuals are not obligated to contribute to housing provident fund. The relevant laws and regulations are as follows

Article 2 of the "Regulations on the Administration of Housing Provident Fund" (2019) stipulates that this regulation applies to the payment, withdrawal, use, management, and supervision of housing provident fund within the territory of the People's Republic of China.

The housing provident fund referred to in these regulations refers to the long-term housing reserves deposited by government agencies, state-owned enterprises, urban collective enterprises, foreign-invested enterprises, urban private enterprises and other urban enterprises, public institutions, private non enterprise units, social organizations (referred to as units) and their employees.

Notice on Several Specific Issues Concerning the Management of Housing Provident Fund (Jian Jin Guan [2006] No. 52)

According to the Regulations on the Administration of Housing Provident Fund, the interpretation of statistical indicators by the National Bureau of Statistics, and relevant regulations of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the term "in-service employees" referred to in the regulations refers to those who work in government agencies, state-owned enterprises, urban collective enterprises, foreign-invested enterprises, urban private enterprises, and other urban enterprises, public institutions, private non enterprise units, and social organizations (referred to as units), Individuals who receive wages from these units (excluding foreign nationals and personnel from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan). This also includes individuals who have job positions but are temporarily not working due to reasons such as study, illness, maternity leave, etc. (within 6 months) and continue to receive wages in their employer. Including employees who have signed labor contracts with the unit or formed factual labor relationships recognized by the labor security department. But it does not include non on-the-job employees who have left the unit but still maintain labor relations.