According to the Social Insurance Law of the People's Republic of China and Interim Measures for Social Insurance System Coverage of Foreigners Working within the Territory of China, foreigners employed in Beijing shall participate in the social insurance. The approach to handle this matter is as follows.

1. An employer who lawfully recruits and employs foreigners shall process their social insurance registration at the local social insurance fund management center and social insurance agency, hereinafter referred to as "social insurance center (agency)", within 30 days from the date of processing their employment permits.

For foreigners dispatched by their overseas employers to work for associated employers in Beijing, their associated employers in Beijing shall process social insurance registration on their behalf.

2. Prior to processing social insurance registration for foreigners, the employer shall install software patches on "Enterprise Management Subsystem of Beijing Social Insurance Information System: For Ordinary Institutions" (V4.3.7 and above), hereinafter referred to as the "enterprise version software", and input passport numbers of foreigners to generate social insurance numbers.

3. After inputting information and generating the application forms with the enterprise version software, employers shall print the Beijing Social Insurance Personal Information Registration Form (in triplicate) and Beijing Social Insurance Enrollment Form (in duplicate).

4. Employers shall process social insurance registration for foreign employees at the local social insurance center (agency) between the 5th and 25th of every month. Both the original and photocopy of the following documents are required for due verification and archiving by the social insurance center (agency) for future inspection.

A. Applicant's passport;

B. Alien Employment Permit, Foreign Experts Certificate, or Resident Foreign Journalist's Press Card;

C. Residence permit;

D. Beijing Social Insurance Personal Information Registration Form (in triplicate and stamped);

E. Beijing Social Insurance Enrolment Form (in duplicate and stamped);

F. Two color photos (2.5*3.5cm, bareheaded, white background, recently taken and developed);

G. Other relevant certificates and documents.

Foreigners holding the Beijing Work and Residence Permit for Overseas High-level Talent or the Foreigner's Permanent Residence Card only need to provide A, D, E and F specified above for social insurance registration.

5. Social security number for a foreigner shall remain unchanged once it is successfully registered. Social insurance centers (agencies) may make information changes accordingly in case of any change to the type and number of foreigners' certificates.

6. A foreigner from a signing country for bilateral or multilateral social insurance agreement with China may proceed subject to social insurance provisions of the said agreement.

7. Social insurance centers (agencies) shall receive registration materials submitted by employers of foreigners and carefully verify submitted residence permits and working permits including foreigners' passport, Alien Employment Permit, Foreign Experts Certificate, or Resident Foreign Journalist's Press Card, etc. Registration materials with any questionable information falls to be rejected and returned to the submitter for re-application.