Sweden and China may be closing in on a social insurance deal

Chinese media is reporting that it aims to simplify social insurance payments that foreigners in China and conversely Chinese working overseas that have created much confusion since the regulation demanding all foreigners working in China need to be covered by social security was introduced last year. A source from Social Insurance Administration told newspaper China Daily, that initial discussions for a bilateral agreement have been held with Sweden among other countries. Finland and Denmark have also expressed interest in such negotiations.

Sweden and Iceland appear to have the warmest relations among Nordic countries with China at the moment, underscored by a recent pledge by China to lend up to a billion to Swedish small and medium sized enterprises and the land deals in Iceland following the visit of the Chinese Prime Minister. This has also given Swedish enterprises a head-start on for example Finnish counterparts in the Chinese market. Finnish press and many political actors all too often seem to take a negative stand in issues where China still needs development and that has not gone unnoticed. Traditionally Sweden, Denmark and Finland have been in favour, given that they were the first to form diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China.