The India Employee Benefits Stack for Chinese companies

What changes when you come from China

What you call it in China, and what it is called in India

There is no housing fund (zhùfáng gōngjījīn) in India, and no city-set contribution rates. China's five insurances and one fund collapse in India into a shorter list with national rates: EPF for pension, ESI for health and injury below ₹21,000 a month, and a statutory gratuity on exit. Above that wage line India has no statutory health cover at all, so the supplementary commercial medical insurance larger Chinese employers buy at home becomes the main layer in India.

This edition maps each Chinese benefit to its Indian counterpart, then covers staff seconded from China (wàipài yuángōng), where Chinese companies operate in India, and the questions Chinese HR and finance teams ask. Investment from China is subject to India's Press Note 3 (2020), which requires government approval for investors from countries sharing a land border with India; a 2026 amendment moved non-controlling beneficial ownership of up to 10% to the automatic route.

What Chinese companies get wrong when they set up in India

None of these is a knowledge gap. Each is a reflex from home, applied to a country that works differently.

1. 01

   What they assume: There must be an Indian housing fund to enrol staff in.

   What India doesThere is none. Housing support in India is House Rent Allowance, a salary component. Since 21 November 2025, if allowances excluded from wages exceed 50% of total remuneration, the excess is added back into wages for EPF, gratuity and other statutory calculations.

2. 02

   What they assume: Contribution rates vary by city, so check with the local bureau.

   What India doesEPF and ESI rates are national: 12% plus 12% of basic plus DA for EPF, and 3.25% plus 0.75% for ESI. What varies by state is leave, under the Shops and Establishments Acts, and public holidays.

3. 03

   What they assume: Seconded staff can stay in Chinese social insurance instead.

   What India doesIndia and China have no social security agreement. A Chinese national on Indian payroll is an International Worker who joins EPF from day one on full salary, with no ₹15,000 ceiling, and can generally withdraw only at 58 or on permanent incapacity.

4. 04

   What they assume: An exit payment is owed only when we end the contract.

   What India doesGratuity is owed on resignation and retirement too, once five continuous years are complete (one year for fixed-term employees): 15 days' last drawn salary per year, capped at ₹20 lakh. It is statutory, so provision it from the first payroll.

5. 05

   What they assume: Maternity pay comes from the maternity insurance fund.

   What India doesIn India the employer pays 26 weeks of full pay for the first two children, and 12 weeks from the third. ESI covers it only for ESI members. Group health covers the hospital bill up to a sub-limit; a normal delivery costs about ₹1 lakh.

6. 06

   What they assume: Basic medical insurance covers everyone; commercial cover is a top-up.

   What India doesAbove ₹21,000 a month India has no statutory health cover. Group Health Insurance is the whole of it, so its sum insured matters: the India median is ₹5,00,000, and global startups in India carry ₹10,00,000.

7. 07

   What they assume: Annual leave starts at 5 days and grows over decades.

   What India doesIndian earned leave is typically 12 to 18 days a year under the state Shops and Establishments Acts or the Factories Act, plus separate casual and sick leave, rather than China's 5 days for the first ten years of work.

8. 08

   What they assume: Parents have their own cover, so leave them out.

   What India doesParents are the largest claims category by relationship in India, about 40% of claims in Plum's data. Whether to cover them is the biggest single design choice in a GHI policy, and Indian candidates ask about it.

China vs India, benefit by benefit

Benefit	China	India
Pension	Employer 16%, employee 8% in most places, on a base between 60% and 300% of the local average wage.	EPF and EPS at 12% employer plus 12% employee on basic plus DA, nationwide.
Who sets the rates	Provinces and cities set rates and contribution bases.	Rates are national. Leave and public holidays are set by state.
Statutory health cover	Basic medical insurance for urban employees, with maternity insurance merged in.	ESI for employees earning up to ₹21,000 a month. Nothing above that line.
Supplementary medical	Commercial medical insurance bought by many larger employers.	Group Health Insurance: voluntary in law, and the main layer above the ESI ceiling.
Housing	Housing fund: 5% to 12% each from employer and employee.	None. House Rent Allowance is a salary component.
Unemployment insurance	Shared contribution at locally set rates.	None. Exit costs sit in notice pay and gratuity.
Work injury	Employer-only insurance, priced by industry risk class.	Employees' Compensation Act 1923 for staff not in ESI, insured by the employer; GPA added voluntarily.
Exit payment	Economic compensation of one month's wage per year of service on most employer terminations.	Gratuity after five years on most exits: 15 days' last drawn salary per year, capped at ₹20 lakh.
Maternity	98 days nationally, longer in many provinces, funded by maternity insurance.	26 weeks of full pay for the first two children, 12 from the third, paid by the employer.
Annual leave	5, 10 or 15 days after 1, 10 or 20 years of cumulative work.	Earned leave typically 12 to 18 days a year plus casual and sick leave.
Public holidays	13 days of national public holidays since 2025.	Vary by state; three national holidays.
Retirement age	Rising from 2025 to 63 for men and to 55 or 58 for women.	Set by company policy; International Workers generally withdraw EPF only at 58.

What MNCs and GCCs offer their teams in India

From The Standard of Employee Benefits 2026–27, Plum's report on 15,312 benefit plans, 5,20,100 claims and 74,543 checkups from Plum's FY26 book.

• 1.6×MNC and GCC benefits spend per employee in India, against a funded Indian startup (nearly 3× a local Indian business).
• 43%of MNCs and GCCs in India are Holistic Leaders: deep insurance plus real breadth of healthcare beside it.
• ₹7,50,000median MNC/GCC sum insured, covering parents or in-laws, with ₹1,00,000 maternity cover and no copays or sub-limits.
• ~2%of payroll buys India's top-quartile plan, against roughly 15% in the US, 10–25% across Europe and 8–15% across APAC.

What headquarters is used to

China's employer costs sit mostly in the mandatory five insurances and housing fund, with commercial medical cover on top at larger firms. In India that order flips: group health is the main layer above ₹21,000 a month, not an extra.

• 1.32 billion+people covered by China's basic medical, maternity and critical illness insurance
• 70%+of large enterprises provide supplementary private insurance or enhanced health benefits
• $420–$840typical annual premium per employee for supplementary private health insurance
• RMB 955.8 billioncommercial health insurance premium income in 2024

Source: Benefits Beyond Borders 2025, Plum's report on benefits in the economies investing in India (China chapter, citing the National Healthcare Security Administration and EY).

Staff seconded from China

Seconded staff may stay on a global or Chinese medical policy, but an India-admitted GHI is still worth adding: it gives cashless admission at network hospitals with no deposit and a local claims process. There is no India–China social security agreement, so a seconded Chinese national on Indian payroll joins EPF from day one on full salary, with no ₹15,000 ceiling, and can generally withdraw only at 58 or on permanent incapacity. Budget that cost into the posting.

Where Chinese companies set up in India

Hospital networks, claim costs and state leave rules differ by city. These are the places Chinese companies concentrate.

• Greater Noida and Noida

  Uttar Pradesh

  Vivo, Oppo and Haier plants and the electronics component makers around them. Shop-floor staff here are largely within ESI; supervisors and engineers need GHI.

• Bengaluru

  Karnataka

  Xiaomi's India headquarters and Huawei's research centre. Mostly salaried technology and commercial staff above the ESI ceiling.

• Pune, Chakan and Ranjangaon

  Maharashtra

  Sany's Chakan plant and Haier's Ranjangaon plant in Pune's engineering belt. Pune is one of the seven cities benchmarked in the hub guide.

• Halol

  Gujarat

  SAIC's MG Motor plant, now run by JSW MG Motor India, and its suppliers. Vadodara is the nearest large hospital network.

• Chennai and Sriperumbudur

  Tamil Nadu

  BYD India's operations and the contract electronics belt. Tamil Nadu has its own Shops and Establishments leave rules for office staff.

Chinese companies with operations in India include Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, OnePlus, realme, Haier, Midea, BYD, SAIC Motor (JSW MG Motor India), Huawei, Sany, LiuGong.

Everything else applies to every foreign employer

Statutory benefits, group insurance, tax, leave and CTC work the same whichever country you come from. Each part is covered in full in the India guide.

1. Part 1 – Employee BenefitsWhat employee benefits are legally mandatory in India?These are not optional.
2. Part 2 – Group Health InsuranceGroup health insurance for MNCs in IndiaNone of these are legally required.
3. Part 3 – Business Insurance (Non-EB)What business insurance does a new India entity need?This stack is separate from EB and is often the one India-entry teams leave until last.
4. Part 4 – Beyond InsuranceThe benefits your team will actually noticeInsurance is the foundation, not the programme.
5. Part 5 – Setup StageIn what order should a new India entity buy insurance?The most expensive insurance mistake isn't buying the wrong policy.
6. Part 6 – Sector NotesWhat your sector adds to the universal stackThe policies in Parts 1–3 apply to every MNC.
7. Part 7 – City GuideHow do employee benefit benchmarks differ across Indian cities?The same ₹5L GHI plan means different things in different cities.
8. Part 8 – ChecklistThe pre-operations checklistBefore your India entity goes live, each item below should have a policy number, a renewal date, and a named contact.
9. Part 9 – Tax GuideIs group health insurance taxable for employees in India?India runs two parallel income tax regimes simultaneously, and the tax treatment of almost every benefit differs between them.
10. Part 10 – Leave & PoliciesLeave entitlements and what global MNCs typically add on topIndia's statutory leave framework is state-governed and more fragmented than most MNCs expect.
11. Part 11 – Allowances & CTCHow should an MNC structure India CTC under the new labour codes?India's cost-to-company (CTC) structure is more complex than most countries your payroll team has operated in.

Questions Chinese HR teams ask about India

More from Plum for Chinese companies in India

• How MNCs structure health insurance for Indian subsidiariesGlobal programmes, local policies and who signs what.
• Do you need to match headquarters' benefits in India?Where to mirror the parent plan, and where India needs its own design.
• Insurance for expatriate employees in IndiaCovering seconded staff alongside the local plan.
• Group insurance vs ESI: a guide for employersWho must be in ESI, and where group health insurance takes over.
• How to calculate gratuity in IndiaFormulas, worked examples and a free calculator.
• The Standard of Employee Benefits 2026–27Benchmarks from 4,500+ Indian employee health plans.