Employer of Record (EOR) in China

Hire in China in days, with no entity and no exposure to getting Labor Contract Law or city-specific social insurance wrong. We place you with the right vetted EOR partner, at pricing you will not get going direct, and stay on your side for the life of the relationship.

  • Independent advice
  • Vetted partners
  • Operational in days

What an Employer of Record does for you in China

An Employer of Record is a company that legally employs your China-based staff on your behalf. You choose the person and direct their work day to day. The EOR is the legal employer on paper, which is what lets you build a team in China without registering your own company.

In practice the EOR partner takes on everything that needs a Chinese legal entity and local, city-specific expertise: a compliant written employment contract under the Labor Contract Law (mandatory within one month of start, with double-wage exposure for the employer if it slips), monthly payroll withholding of individual income tax plus the “five insurances and one fund” (五险一金) contributions calculated against the correct city’s own base and rate, statutory filings to the State Taxation Administration (which has collected social insurance premiums directly since 2019) and the local Housing Provident Fund centre, statutory benefits and leave, and compliant onboarding and lawful exits under the Labor Contract Law’s restricted list of dismissal grounds. You get a working team in days. The EOR carries the legal and compliance weight; you carry the commercial relationship. The only question worth spending time on is which partner is genuinely strong in your specific Chinese city, and that is the question we answer for you.

01

Legal employer, on paper

A compliant written Chinese employment contract under the Labor Contract Law, with all statutory terms correct from day one, and no double-wage exposure for a missed contract deadline.

02

Compliant from day one

Monthly individual income tax withholding and five-insurances-one-fund contributions calculated against your specific city’s contribution base, with statutory filings made to the State Taxation Administration and the local Housing Provident Fund centre.

03

No entity required

Statutory benefits, tiered annual leave, notice and severance under the Labor Contract Law, and lawful onboarding and exits. You get a working team in days; the EOR carries the legal weight.

How it works: four steps to a compliant hire

From first call to a compliant China hire at work, usually in days.

01 — Scope & quote

We map the role, salary, and start date, and come back with a clear all-in monthly cost. No guesswork, no hidden extras.

02 — Compliant contract

Your employment contract is drafted to Chinese standards by the partner, correct for your specific city, and we sanity-check the terms and pricing before you sign. Compliant from day one.

03 — Onboard in days

A correct Chinese contract is issued under the Labor Contract Law, with all statutory terms from day one. Your hire can start in days.

04 — Payroll & compliance run

Individual income tax and all five-insurances-one-fund contributions calculated and withheld against your city’s own base, payslips issued, statutory filings made to the State Taxation Administration and the local housing-fund centre. You direct the work; the compliance just runs.

What EOR in China costs

Two parts: the statutory cost of employing someone in your specific city, and the EOR partner fee. In China the statutory employer cost runs through five separate insurance schemes plus a housing fund, priced differently in every city, not one combined national tax. We make both transparent before you commit, so there are no surprises.

Employer social insurance (Shanghai, representative)

Roughly 30.7% to 34.4% of the contribution base in Shanghai, used here as the representative city: pension 16%, medical insurance 9%, unemployment insurance 0.5%, work-injury insurance 0.2% to 1.9% (industry-rated), and the Housing Provident Fund 5% to 7% (employer’s choice within the band). Beijing and Shenzhen run different rates and caps entirely; we confirm the real figure for your actual city before you commit.

Minimum wage (2026)

Set city by city, not nationally: CNY 2,740/month in Shanghai, CNY 2,520/month in Shenzhen, with Beijing topping the hourly rate at CNY 27.7/hour. There is no single figure to quote without naming the city.

Income tax (employee)

Seven-bracket progressive rate on annual comprehensive income, from 3% up to 45%, after a standard CNY 60,000 annual deduction plus any special additional deductions the employee claims. Withheld monthly on a cumulative basis, reconciled every year between 1 March and 30 June. Borne by the employee, not added to your cost.

EOR partner fee

A transparent per-employee monthly fee. We benchmark across our vetted network, typically 15 to 25% below going direct, and renegotiate for you at renewal.

Why run it through Bradford Jacobs

We know which EOR partners are genuinely strong in China, by city and by sector. We place you with the right one, at pricing you will not get going direct, and stay on your side for the life of the relationship.

Independent, not a single provider

We are independent: we assess what you actually need, place you with the right vetted partner, secure pricing you will not get going direct, and stay on your side to escalate or renegotiate. You get advice, not a product pitch.

  • Independent advice
  • Vetted partners only
  • On your side at renewal

Pricing you can’t get direct

China’s employer cost is priced by city, not nationally, which makes it easy for an unfamiliar partner to under- or over-quote against the wrong contribution base entirely. We benchmark across our partner network for rates typically 15 to 25% below going direct, and renegotiate on your behalf at renewal. Most companies do not know how much room there is to negotiate. We do.

  • 15-25% below direct
  • Network benchmarking
  • Renegotiated for you

Straight to the top when it matters

When something needs resolving, and in global employment it sometimes does, you come to us. We escalate directly, past the helpdesk, to people who can actually move it.

  • Direct escalation
  • No support queues
  • Named account contact

Two decades across markets

Two decades placing and managing EOR arrangements across global markets, with the local, city-specific knowledge of five-insurances-one-fund enrolment and Chinese termination rules that keeps you compliant.

  • EOR specialists
  • City-specific compliance
  • Risk removed

Built for conversion to your own entity

Most companies use EOR for 12 to 24 months, then move to their own Chinese WFOE. We plan that crossover and manage the transition when the economics justify it.

  • EOR to entity path
  • Transition managed
  • Crossover planning

Why an EOR is the fastest compliant way into China

Two things slow foreign employers down in China: the time to register a WFOE, and the risk of getting the Labor Contract Law’s restricted dismissal grounds, or the wrong city’s insurance rate, wrong. An EOR removes both.

Working time, leave & contracts

Compliance handled under one national Labor Contract Law, applied correctly for your specific city. Chinese employment law requires mandatory enrolment in five separate social insurance schemes plus the Housing Provident Fund, a written contract within one month of start under threat of double-wage liability, and dismissal restricted to a fixed statutory list rather than at-will termination. An EOR carries all of it correctly from day one, so a wrong assumption never becomes a liability.

Operational in days, not weeks

Registering a WFOE in China typically takes 15 to 20 working days for the licence itself, plus bank-account opening on top, and you cannot legally employ anyone until registration completes. An EOR removes that wait entirely: a compliant Chinese contract is issued and your hire starts in days. You prove the city and the market first, then incorporate later only if the headcount justifies it. This is the real value of EOR in China: speed into a city-priced market, with the compliance carried by an expert who already knows that city’s numbers.

Everything your China EOR covers

One transparent monthly fee per employee covers all of this. No hidden extras.

Compliant Chinese contract

A compliant written employment contract under the Labor Contract Law, issued within the statutory one-month window and maintained for you.

Payroll & five-insurances-one-fund

Monthly payroll run, with individual income tax and all five-insurances-one-fund contributions calculated against your specific city’s base, withheld, and filed correctly each month.

Statutory benefits

All statutory benefits administered: tiered annual leave (5 days rising to 15 with tenure), 13 public holiday days, maternity leave (98 days nationally, extended further in most provinces) and province-set paternity leave, and statutory notice on exit, since China restricts dismissal to enumerated grounds rather than at-will. Employees also pay towards pension (8%), medical insurance (2%), unemployment insurance (0.5%), and the Housing Provident Fund (5% to 7%) in Shanghai, combined roughly 15.5% to 17.5% of the contribution base, deducted from salary, not billed to you. Employees pay nothing toward work-injury insurance; that scheme is funded by the employer alone.

Compliance & support

Ongoing HR compliance and a single point of contact, for the life of the engagement.

Your questions answered

Straight answers on how Employer of Record works in China.

Is my hire employed by Bradford Jacobs or by me?

Legally, your hire is employed by the China-based EOR partner we place you with, which is what keeps you compliant without registering an entity. Day to day they work for you: you set the work, the goals, the relationship. You get the team; the partner carries the legal weight.

Usually within days once the role, city, and salary are agreed, with a compliant Chinese contract from day one. Compare that to the 15 to 20 working days a WFOE registration can take before you can legally employ anyone at all.

It depends entirely on the city. In Shanghai, used here as the representative example, roughly 30.7% to 34.4% of the contribution base across pension, medical, unemployment, work-injury, and Housing Provident Fund contributions. Beijing and Shenzhen run different figures. Add the transparent EOR partner fee and you have your all-in cost for your actual city.

Yes, when done properly. The EOR is a real Chinese legal employer meeting all Labor Contract Law, five-insurances-one-fund, and tax obligations in the correct city. The risk is using an under-resourced partner who gets the city-specific figures wrong, which is exactly why we place you with vetted partners and stay on your side for the life of the relationship.

The compliant contract, monthly payroll (individual income tax and all five-insurances-one-fund withholdings against your city’s base), employer contributions, statutory benefits and leave administration, and ongoing HR compliance. We give you one all-in monthly figure up front, with nothing added later.

Yes, and most companies do once the headcount and permanence justify it. We manage the transition from EOR to your own Chinese WFOE, and can support the registration itself. Most use EOR for 12 to 24 months first.

Ready to hire in China?

Tell us the role and which city, and we will come back with a compliant, all-in monthly cost and the right partner, usually within a day. No entity, no lock-in, no pitch, just the fastest compliant way to get your person working in China.

Tax and labour data verified July 2026 (State Taxation Administration, MOHRSS, Shanghai Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau). Figures are set city by city and change; we confirm the current position for your specific city when we scope your hire.