VII According to the stipulations of Chinese government, for the purpose of protecting the legitimate rights and interests of foreign expert in course of living and working in China, the foreign cultural and educational experts shall enter into the Standard Employment Contract uniformly made by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs with the host institution and definitely stipulate in form of contractual attachment the working assignment and quality, the salary, treatment and other matters the two parties consider the Standard Contract has not covered. All these comprise an integral contract.
* In order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of foreign experts in China, when entering the contract, please note:
(1) The conclusion of Standard Employment Contract shall use the original document. The copy is invalid. The Standard Employment Contract has six translated version as English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese and Arabic. Version of other languages can be instituted by the English version or be translated and made by the host institution.
(2) The employment contract shall be concluded in written form Any oral agreement will be regarded as invalid.
(3) The foreign expert shall sign the contract before coming to China; those who have been staying in China shall enter the contract before taking office.
(4) Considering the foreign expert is in need of renovating his knowledge and shall adapt his native life and find a new job as soon as possible after repatriation, the continuous term of the contract for the foreign expert to work in China is not suitable for over 5 years. The next employment shall be after two years.
(5) The host institution may stipulate a probation period of 60 days for the foreign expert. In the probation period, if the host institution finds out that such situation of the foreign expert as the health condition or professional ability is not fit for the working assignment agreed upon in the employment contract, he is entitled the right to cancel the contract.
* When signing the attachment of the employment contract, please note:
(1) The Standard Employment Contract made by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs has the uniform serial number. Therefore, the attachment shall be marked as the attachment of which number of standard contract in order to show the coherence with the standard contract.
(2) The working assignment shall be concrete and not ambiguous. The quality of the work shall also be definitely stipulated.
(3) Other matters the foreign expert considers the Standard Contract has not covered.
(4) It shall be explained that the attachment has equal validity to the standard employment contract and comprises an integral part of the contract.
(5) The attachment shall take effect after the foreign expert and the representative of the host institution sign it.
Note: the foreign expert must consult with the host institution about salary and living treatment before coming to China and stipulate such matters in form of attachment of the contract. The salary and living treatment mentioned below are applicable to the general conditions and are probably unfit for the requirement of your host institution or yourself.
1. Salary and treatment
1) Direct payment monetary salary the salary will be paid monthly by RMB from the day of starting work to the expiration of the contract. In case it is not enough for a whole month, the payment shall be counted by day. The daily wage shall be 1/30 of the monthly salary (February will be the same). No more than 70% of the salary can be changed into foreign currencies monthly. The employed party shall pay the personal income tax in accord with the Personal Income Tax Law of the People's Republic of China. The starting amount of taxation is RMB 4001. The monthly salary standard for reference: where the expert has got the bachelor degree and the working experience is more than two years, the monthly salary shall be no less than RMB2500. For those who has got a master degree and the working experience is over three years, the monthly salary shall be around RMB3500. For those who has got a doctor degree and the working experience is over 5 years, the monthly salary shall be about RMB4000. No more than 70% of the monthly salary can be changed into foreign currencies.
(2) Indirect payment the host institution will guarantee the fundamental living conditions for the foreign expert in China:
* Providing the lodgings with furniture, bedding, telephone, television, refrigerator, toilet, and heating and cooling facilities.(The lodgings provided to the expert whose employment term is more than half a year (or one semester) shall be equipped with a kitchen.)
* Providing the medical care at public expense. The foreign expert must see the doctor in the foreign-involved hospital appointed by the host institution. If not in the hospital appointed, the expert shall undertake the cost. Such costs as registration, transportation for medical care, tooth inlaying, face lifting, health protection rubdown, glasses, meals in hospital, restorative not for medical purpose, and examination outside the hospital charged shall be undertaken by the expert.
* Paying the traffic expense for and off work or providing proper traffic allowances for the expert whose working place is far from his domicile.
* International airplane ticket (international tourist class airplane ticket of the nearest distance from China to the country of the foreign expert).
* Transportation cost of luggage (deportation transportation price of luggage by air).
Note: since the economic situation of the host institutions may differ, the indirect payment for each foreign expert is probably different. According to statistics, the indirect payment for each foreign expert ordinarily varies from RMB80,000 to RMB100,000.
2. Working Time, Rest and Holidays
(1)The working time of the foreign expert shall be 8 hours every day, and 5 days every week.
(2) In case the foreign expert is arranged to work overtime, reward above the regular salary in normal work time shall be paid in accord with legal standard.
(3) The foreign expert shall enjoy the following holidays and festivals in China:
New Year's Day, Spring Festival, Labour Day, National Day and other holidays stipulated by laws and regulations.
(4)The foreign expert may enjoy such festivals and holidays as the followings according to other nationalities and religions:
Two days for Christmas, three days for Butcher Day (Kuerban Day), one day for Meat Diet Resume Day and one day for Water-splashing Festival.
(5) The foreign expert may enjoy the annual holiday with payment. Where the contract term of the foreign expert is one year, the holiday with payment shall be four weeks. Where the expert works in an educational institution and the contract term is one academic year, he may enjoy one holiday (winter holiday or summer holiday) in the institution with payment.
3. Sick Leave and Private Affair leave
(1) Request for sick leave by the foreign expert shall be proved by the foreign-involved hospital appointed by the host institution. Where the sick leave amount to less than 30 days in one contract term (one year or one academic year), the foreign expert shall be paid 100% of the salary. In case the leave exceeds 30 days, the host institution is entitled the right to dissolve the contract, or if the contract is not dissolved, the salary will be paid by 70% until the normal work is resumed.
In the contract term, the medical care cost of the foreign expert in the foreign-involved hospital appointed by the local government during errands on business shall be paid by the host institution; the medical cost for private business shall be undertaken by the expert.
In the contract term, the foreign expert shall undertake the medical cost spent in Taiwan province, Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR or outside China.
(2) Private affairs leave of the foreign expert shall acquire the approval of the host institution. The host institution may deduct the salary by day. In the contract term (one year or one academic year), the private affairs leave shall not exceed 10 days. The continuous private affairs leave shall be no more than 3 days. Where one day exceeds, salary for two days will be deducted.
In case of absence off work without allowance of the employing party, where absence amounts to one day, payment for 3 days will be deducted. Where the circumstance is serious, the host institution has the right to dissolve the contract and investigate the liability of the foreign expert for violation of the contract.
How to settle the dispute on the employment contract
(1) The two parties shall seek settlement through friendly consultation.
(2) In case the consultation is not effective, the parties may apply for mediation or arbitration to Arbitration Committee on Dispute Arising from the Employment Contract for Foreign Cultural and Educational Expert established by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs according to the arbitration terms in the standard contract.
(3) Where the contract is not a standard contract and has no arbitration terms, only when the two parties jointly apply for mediation or arbitration can the arbitration committee accept it. The application brought forward by one party alone will not be accepted and each party may sue to the local court.
Protection of foreign experts' property rights
Great attention is paid to intellectual property rights the important requirements of international exchange of technology, economy, culture and talents. The Chinese government keeps strengthening the making and implementation of laws and tries to create the correct environment for the protection of intellectual property rights.
Foreign experts' intellectual property rights of patents, works, special techniques and trademarks are respected and protected by the Chinese government. If the expert or his company applies for patent or trademark protection, they will own it and the right to be rewarded. The Chinese government and the departments concerned will maintain the business secrets according to law. The secrets cover designing plans, production processes, formulas, crafts, strategies of management, name lists of customers, information of material sources, policies of manufacture and sales, any bids and documents. Chinese law forbids illegal acts such as stealing, enticing, threatening or exposing the agreement.
At present Chinese laws concerning the protection of intellectual property rights are mainly the "General Rules of the Citizen Law of the People's Republic of China", and the "Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China". The "Patent Law of the People's Republic of China", the "Contract Law of the People's Republic of China", the "Rules of Computer Software Management", the "Corporation Law of the People's Republic of China", the "Foreign Trade Protection Law of the People's Republic of China", and the "Commercial Banking Law of the People's Republic of China". The "Scientific Fruit Transferring Rules of the People's Republic of China" also concerns the protection of intellectual property rights.
The Chinese government has participated in international protective actions of intellectual property rights, the negotiation of important agreements, and has accepted international duties of protecting intellectual property rights.
Insurance in China
Chinese insurance companies cover a large range of businesses. Foreign experts working in China are advised to buy the following insurances: (1) property insurance; (2) personal accident insurance; (3) vehicle insurance; (4) employer responsibility insurance; (5) public responsibility insurance, and; (6) investment insurance. The People's insurance Company of China and other large insurance companies operate many branches in Beijing and other major cities to cater to the needs of foreign customers.
Medical care in China
The health system in China covers the whole country. Most of the host institutions have their own clinics to deal with minor complaints. There are hospitals in almost every city where patients can get treatment without having to travel too far. Big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and alt the provincial capitals have well-equipped hospitals which employ many experienced doctors and specialists with specialized departments including that of traditional Chinese medicine. Many cities have specialized hospitals. Most of them have special departments for foreign experts where patients receive first-class attention. China adopts a partly free medical care service. Particular issues concerning foreign experts' medical care should be covered in the contract.
Appendix:
An outline of China
China is the short name of the People's Republic of China. The "Five-Star Red Flag" is its national flag while the national emblem has Tian'anmen at its center, illuminated by five stars and encircled by ears of grain and a cog wheel. Beijing is the capital of the People's Republic of China.
(1) Geology and climate
China is situated in eastern Asia on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean. China has a varied topography, with highlands in the west and plains in the east. Sprawling over an area of approximately 9.6 million square kilometers, it comprises 6.5 percent of the earth's landmass, making it the largest country in Asia and the third largest in the world. Of its territory, mountainous areas account for about 33 percent, plateaus 26 percent, rolling land 10 percent, basins 19 percent, and plains 12 percent. Its land borders extend to about 200,000 kilometers and it shares frontiers with the following neighbors - the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Russia, Mongolia, Kazakstan, Tadzhikistan, Kirghizstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos and Viet Nam.Its coastline is as long as 180,000 kilometers from the outlet of the Yalu River in the north to the outlet of the Beilun River in the south. The long coast it lashed by the salty waters of the Bohai Bay (inland sea), the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea and the South China Sea. China's maritime neighbors are the Republic of Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia. Off the coast are no fewer than 5,000 islands, the biggest being Taiwan Island, and the second largest Hainan Island.
With a total length of 6,300 kilometers, the Yangtze is China's longest river and the third longest in the world. The Yellow River, with a total length of 5,464 kilometers, is the country's second longest river. Other major rivers are the Heilongjiang River, the Haihe River, the Huaihe River, the Qiantangjiang River and the Pearl River, etc.. Lakes in China cover a total area of 80,000 square kilometers. The major fresh-water lakes are the Boyang Lake, the Dongting Lake, the Taihu Lake and the Hongzehu Lake. Major salt-water lakes include the Qinghai Lake, the Namu Lake, the Qilin Lake and the Luobupo Lake.
The Himalayan is the biggest and highest mountain range in the world, on the eastern section of which looms the 8,848.13 meter high Mount Qomolangma (Everest), the world's loftiest peak rising between China and Nepal. Other major mountainous ranges in China include: the Tianshan, the Kunlun, the Karakorum, the Hengduan, the Qilian, the Gangdise, the Yinshan, the Qinling, the Greater Xing'anling, the Changbai, the Nanling and the Taiwan. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the Loess Plateau and the Inner Mongolia Plateau are the four major plateaus in China. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with an altitude of over 4,000 meters which is known as the "Roof of the World", is the highest plateau in the world. The Northeast China Plain, the North China Plain and the Yangtze River Plain are China's three major plains.
Because of the immense size of the country, the climate varies very much in different parts of China, ranging from tropical, subtropical, warm-temperate, temperate to cool-temperate in character. A great part of China, however, lies within subtropical and temperate climatic zones and has a monsoon climate. The northern part of the northern Heilongjiang Province, for instance, has no summer while inhabitants in southern Hainan Island never experience winter condition. Every winter from October to March, frigid winds sweep across China. As a result, winters in China are cold and dry. Between April and September, rainfall, high temperature and winds dominate. The rainfall in different parts of China also varies a great deal. The annual precipitation on the southeastern seaboard is 1,500 millimeters. And it is below 500 millimeters in northwestern China.
(2) Administrative division system
China's administrative units are currently based on a threelevel system dividing the nation into provinces, counties and townships as follows:
The country is divided into provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government;
A province or an autonomous region is divided into autonomous prefectures, autonomous counties, and/or cities;
A county or an autonomous county is divided into townships national minority townships, and/or towns.
Municipalities directly under the Central Government and other large cities are divided into districts and counties. regions, autonomous prefectures, and autonomous counties Autonomous prefectures are divided into counties, autonomous regions, autonomous prefectures, and autonomous counties are national autonomous areas.
The Constitution of the People's Republic of China specifically empowers the State to establish special administrative regions when necessary. A special administrative region is a local administrative area directly under the Central Government.
