Global Payroll Services in China

Already have a Chinese entity, or running payroll across several countries? We place you with a vetted China payroll partner who keeps individual income tax and five-insurances-one-fund filings exactly right for your specific city, while you stay the legal employer and we stay on your side.

  • Independent advice
  • Vetted partners
  • Multi-country ready

What running payroll in China involves

If you already employ people through your own Chinese entity, you stay the legal employer, but you still have to run payroll correctly every month: cumulative individual income tax withholding filed through the State Taxation Administration’s own electronic tax bureau, and five-insurances-one-fund contributions calculated against your specific city’s own contribution base and rate, not one combined national filing. This is where a specialist payroll partner earns its place: you keep the employment relationship, they keep the city-specific mechanics right across all of it.

01

You stay the employer

You stay the legal employer of your China-based staff. The payroll partner runs the monthly mechanics for your specific city; you keep the employment relationship.

02

Accurate every cycle

Individual income tax and all five-insurances-one-fund contributions calculated and withheld against your city’s own base, payslips issued, and statutory filings made on schedule, every month.

03

Multi-country consolidation

Run payroll across several markets under one partner and one process, rather than a different vendor and standard in every country.

How managed China payroll works, step by step

From onboarding your employee data to filing and reconciliation.

01 — Scope & onboard

We map your entity, headcount, and which city or cities you employ people in, place you with the right vetted China payroll partner, and onboard your employee data.

02 — Set up calculations

Individual income tax and all five-insurances-one-fund contributions configured correctly to your specific city’s current rates and contribution-base cap, so every payslip is right from the first run.

03 — Run monthly payroll

Salaries calculated, individual income tax and five-insurances-one-fund contributions withheld against the correct city base, payslips issued, and people paid on schedule, every cycle.

04 — File & reconcile

Statutory filings to the State Taxation Administration (which has collected social insurance premiums directly since 2019) and the local Housing Provident Fund centre made on time, with annual individual income tax reconciliation handled for you every year between 1 March and 30 June.

What payroll in China costs

Your statutory employer costs for your specific city, plus a payroll partner fee. China’s employer burden is predictable once the city is known, but it is genuinely different city to city, one of them industry-rated on top; the value of the partner is accuracy and time, in a system the tax authority monitors directly.

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%. Configured correctly for your actual city and its own current rate and cap, every payroll run.

Minimum wage (2026)

Set city by city, not nationally: CNY 2,740/month in Shanghai, CNY 2,520/month in Shenzhen for 2026. Calculated correctly for wherever your people actually are, never assumed from one national figure.

Income tax (employee)

Seven brackets from 3% up to 45% on cumulative annual comprehensive income, after the standard CNY 60,000 deduction plus any special additional deductions, calculated and filed correctly on every payslip.

Payroll partner fee

A transparent per-employee or per-payslip fee. We benchmark across our vetted network, typically 15 to 25% below going direct.

Why run it through Bradford Jacobs

One partner, many countries

If you run payroll across several markets, we consolidate it through vetted partners under one point of contact, not a different vendor and a different standard in every country.

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

Pricing you can’t get direct

China runs five separate mandatory insurance schemes plus a housing fund, priced differently in every city, and applying the wrong city’s base or rate is an easy, costly, and visible mistake once the tax authority’s own collection system flags it. We benchmark across our payroll network for rates typically 15 to 25% below going direct, and renegotiate for you at renewal.

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

City-by-city rules that expose risk

The five-insurances-one-fund contribution split, the seven-bracket cumulative income-tax withholding, and the annual reconciliation deadline, all correct for your specific city. We place you with partners who get the specifics right, and we stay on your side if anything needs escalating.

  • Direct escalation
  • No support queues
  • Named account contact

20+ years and the local detail

Two decades running compliant payroll across global markets, the deadlines, the filings, the city-by-city detail that exposes risk in China specifically.

  • Two decades of payroll
  • Deadlines & filings
  • Year-end handled

Built to scale across markets

Run payroll in one country or twenty through one partner and one process. As you add markets, the standard does not fragment, you keep a single point of contact and consistent compliance everywhere.

  • One process everywhere
  • Single point of contact
  • Consistent compliance

The city-by-city split a national template misses

These are the ones that catch foreign employers, and the reason a specialist partner pays for itself.

Tax & deduction rates

Applying one city’s minimum wage, contribution base, or insurance rate to an employee actually based in a different city. Misapplying the seven-bracket cumulative income-tax withholding. Missing a statutory benefit or leave entitlement. Each is easy to get wrong from a national template and visible to the State Taxation Administration when you do.

Filings, deadlines & reporting

Late remittance to the State Taxation Administration or the local Housing Provident Fund centre, where penalties and interest apply automatically. None of these are hard for a specialist; all are easy to get wrong from a generic template. That is the whole case for getting your China payroll partner right.

What managed payroll covers

One transparent fee covers the full monthly payroll cycle. No hidden extras.

Tax, five-insurances-one-fund & city-specific filings

Compliant China payroll processed monthly, with individual income tax and all five-insurances-one-fund contributions correct for your specific city every run.

Payroll & filings

Monthly payroll run, with individual income tax and five-insurances-one-fund contributions calculated, withheld, and filed correctly each month.

Statutory benefits

All statutory benefits administered: tiered annual leave, sick pay, parental leave, notice and severance.

Compliance & support

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

Your questions answered

Straight answers on running compliant payroll in China.

Do I need a Chinese entity to use payroll services?

Yes. Payroll outsourcing assumes you are the legal employer, which usually means you have a registered Chinese entity such as a WFOE. If you have no entity and do not want one yet, you need an EOR instead, where the partner is the legal employer. We will confirm which applies to you.

Individual income tax calculation and remittance, employer and employee contributions across all five-insurances-one-fund schemes against your specific city’s base, statutory benefits and leave, payslips, and all statutory filings to the State Taxation Administration and the local Housing Provident Fund centre. You keep the employment relationship; they keep it compliant and on time, for the city you actually operate in.

Because there is no single national minimum wage or social-insurance table. Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen each set their own contribution base, cap, and rate, and the gap between them is real money on every payslip. A payroll partner who defaults to one national figure will get your specific city wrong.

It depends 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. Add the transparent payroll partner fee and you have your all-in cost for your actual city.

Yes, and it is one of the main reasons companies come to us. One point of contact and a consistent process across markets, rather than a separate provider and a different standard in every country.

Yes. When you register your entity and become the legal employer, we move your people from the EOR arrangement onto your own compliant China payroll, and manage the handover so nothing is missed.

Need compliant payroll in China?

Tell us your entity setup, headcount, and cities and we will come back with the right partner and pricing you will not get direct, usually within a day. One process, every country you operate in.

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