OUT2CHINA · QUICK ANSWER If your Hong Kong company hires one employee in Shenzhen on a monthly gross salary of RMB 10,00...
Updated: · Out2China Team An EOR fee is one part of the budget for employing a person in China. Start with the employee’s gross salary, then calculate the employer’s city-specific statutory contributions. Add the agreed employer-service fee and the recruitment, benefits or operating items your arrangement requires. There is no single salary uplift that fits every employee. Use the employment-cost calculator for salary and employer contributions, then obtain a written quote for service fees and other items. Its output is a planning estimate rather than an EOR quotation. For a Beijing office employee, a gross monthly salary of RMB 15,000 produces a salary-and-employer-contribution budget of RMB 19,725 under the assumptions below. At RMB 30,000, the corresponding budget is RMB 39,450. Add the EOR service fee as a separate line. These examples use the gross monthly salary as the contribution wage, a 5% housing-fund rate and a 0.2% injury rate for planning. The employer's assessed injury rate and the employee's applicable contribution wage determine the actual calculation. Both salaries fall within Beijing's social-insurance range of RMB 7,270–36,348 from July 2026, and its housing-fund range of RMB 2,540–36,348 for July 2026–June 2027. Employee deductions come out of gross salary; they are not added again to employer cost. Sources: Beijing 2026 social-insurance contribution bases, Beijing's August 2026 contribution-rate explanation, and 2026 housing-fund notice. For an October 2026 budget, the same salary can meet different scheme ceilings. The table compares checked components using RMB 30,000 as the assumed contribution wage and a selected 5% housing-fund rate. It separates those components from the inputs still needed for a complete city quote. The Tianjin medical amount uses its capped base, while Beijing and Shanghai use the assumed RMB 30,000 wage. This is why comparing headline contribution percentages alone can be misleading. A completed itemised quote should add each city's remaining schemes and service fee; the partial components above are not city employment-cost totals. Additional official sources: Tianjin's 2026 contribution bases, medical-insurance notice and housing-fund notice; Shanghai's 2026 contribution bases and medical-rate notice; and Nanjing's 2026 housing-fund base notice. Out2China's standard EOR service fee is US$298 per person per month, with a one-off US$298 onboarding fee per person. Executive, high-salary and foreign-national arrangements use a separate tier, starting at US$398 per month. Confirm the tier for the role when requesting a quote. For the RMB 15,000 Beijing example on the standard tier, recurring employment cost is therefore RMB 19,725 plus US$298 per month. The first month also includes the one-off US$298 onboarding fee. Keeping RMB payroll and USD service fees separate makes the comparison clear; convert them using the rate and funding method in your quote. For the RMB 30,000 example, add the quoted service tier to RMB 39,450 rather than assuming the standard tier applies. Keep refundable funding separate from recurring expense in your cash-flow model. Ask the provider to label which items are estimates, which are fixed for the quoted period and which depend on the employee’s actual circumstances. Social-insurance and housing-fund schemes can use different contribution bases. Annual adjustments can take effect partway through a calendar year, and the employer’s assessed injury rate can differ from a planning assumption. A salary above a scheme’s ceiling does not mean that scheme’s contribution continues to rise proportionally. The city-by-city social-insurance guide gives official sources, effective periods and a reproducible Beijing example. Apply the same employee category, contribution month, wage assumptions and benefits when comparing two proposals. Before signing, ask whether the proposal requires a deposit or advance funding. Request the calculation basis, the items it secures, payment timing, reconciliation frequency and the contractual conditions for returning an unused balance. Put the agreed funding amount and expected reconciliation dates alongside monthly expenses so the cash needed at the start is clear. Confirm which currency you pay and which currency the employee receives. Ask for the exchange-rate source, fixing date, conversion spread if any, and responsibility for bank charges. Record how the provider handles a funding shortfall or surplus. Compare the same currency and funding date before deciding that one fee is lower. Ask how the provider handles a change in pay, role or work location, a departure, or a move to your own Chinese entity. Request a settlement worksheet showing the relevant salary and accrued items, applicable statutory amounts and agreed service or transition charges. Confirm the employee documentation, notice process and treatment of unused funding for the actual arrangement. A replacement guarantee concerns the recruitment service under its agreed terms. It does not remove payroll obligations or determine an employee’s departure settlement. Send the city, role, intended start month, gross salary and bonus or benefit requirements. Ask for the assumptions and validity period alongside the price. Refer to current pricing and the China employer of record services, and confirm the proposal for your case. No. Gross salary, employer statutory contributions and the EOR service fee are separate budget lines. Recruitment, benefits and operating costs may add further items under the agreed scope. No. City, contribution month, wage bases and ceilings, housing-fund choices, the employer’s injury rate and the agreed service fee affect the result. Compare itemised budgets for the same assumptions. Ask whether it is required, what it covers, how it is calculated, when it is reconciled and the conditions for returning an unused balance. Confirm the terms in the proposal and agreement; do not assume one standard amount. Confirm the invoice currency, exchange-rate source and fixing date, any conversion spread and transfer fees, and how a funding shortfall or surplus is handled. Request an itemised settlement for the actual employment situation, including salary, accrued items, applicable statutory amounts and any agreed service or transition charges. A service cancellation and the employee’s employment settlement need separate checks.Build the China EOR budget from separate cost lines
China employer of record cost: two monthly budget examples
Monthly budget line RMB 15,000 salary RMB 30,000 salary Gross salary 15,000 30,000 Employer pension: 16% 2,400 4,800 Employer medical, including maternity: 9.8% 1,470 2,940 Employer unemployment: 0.5% 75 150 Employer injury: assumed 0.2% 30 60 Employer housing fund: selected 5% 750 1,500 Total employer contributions 4,725 9,450 Salary plus employer contributions, before EOR service fee 19,725 39,450 Compare the same RMB 30,000 wage across four cities
City Social-insurance wage base and period Employer medical component Employer housing-fund component Salary plus all employer contributions, before EOR fee Beijing RMB 30,000; within the RMB 7,270–36,348 range from July 2026 RMB 2,940 at 9.8%, including maternity RMB 1,500 at the selected 5%; within the July 2026–June 2027 range RMB 39,450 with the pension, unemployment and injury assumptions in the worked example above Tianjin Capped at RMB 25,902; the RMB 5,180–25,902 range applies from September 2026 RMB 2,719.71 at 10.5%, including maternity; rate effective March 2026–February 2031 RMB 1,445.85 before filing rounding: 5% of the RMB 28,917 ceiling; July 2026–June 2027 Pending confirmation of remaining scheme rates and additional medical/care levies Shanghai RMB 30,000; within the RMB 7,546–37,731 range from July 2026 RMB 2,700 at 9%: 8.5% including maternity plus 0.5% local medical; March 2026–February 2027 Pending current housing-fund inputs Pending confirmation of the remaining scheme inputs Nanjing Pending current social-insurance wage-base confirmation Pending calculation with the applicable wage base RMB 1,500 at the selected 5% budget assumption on RMB 30,000; the verified base range is RMB 2,660–42,400 from July 2026, with the notice valid through June 2027 Pending current social-insurance inputs China EOR pricing: keep service fees separate
A worksheet for comparing proposals
Budget line What to record Gross salary Currency, monthly pay, bonus arrangements and the employee’s role and city Employer social insurance and housing fund Contribution month, scheme-specific wage bases, floors, ceilings, rates and assumptions EOR service fee Current agreed fee, covered tasks, billing unit and separately charged work Recruitment and setup Whether recruitment, checks, equipment and initial administration are included or separately agreed Benefits and operations Approved benefits, equipment, workspace, travel and other role-specific spending Funding and currency Any deposit or prepayment, payment deadline, exchange-rate method and bank charges Changes and departure Contract changes, employee settlement, service notice and any agreed transition charges Why city and contribution month matter
Deposits and prepayments: ask about cash flow
Exchange rates and transfers
Plan changes and exit costs before the start
Request an itemised China EOR quote
Frequently asked questions
Is the EOR service fee the total employment cost?
Is there a standard percentage to add to salary?
How should we budget a deposit or prepayment?
What should we check about currency conversion?
What should we budget when an employee leaves?
OUT2CHINA · QUICK ANSWER If your Hong Kong company hires one employee in Shenzhen on a monthly gross salary of RMB 10,00...
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