China Expands Housing Fund to Cover Gig Workers

China’s State Council has approved a landmark revision to the Housing Provident Fund Management Regulations, opening the door for gig workers and other flexible employment individuals to voluntarily participate in the country’s housing savings system. The decision, announced at a July 31 executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Qiang, marks a significant expansion of housing benefits to China’s rapidly growing flexible workforce, according to CCTV News.

A System Built for a Changing Workforce

The housing provident fund, established in 1999, has long been a cornerstone of China’s urban housing system, requiring both employers and employees to contribute a percentage of wages into individual accounts that can be used for housing purchases and related expenses. However, the system was designed around traditional employment relationships, leaving out the estimated 200 million workers in China’s rapidly expanding platform economy and flexible employment sector.

The revision approved by the State Council explicitly allows individual businesses, part-time workers, and other flexible employment individuals—including delivery riders, couriers, and ride-hailing drivers—to voluntarily contribute to the housing fund system. The change responds to a fundamental shift in China’s employment landscape, where new employment forms have grown rapidly in recent years.

“The biggest highlight of this round of regulation revision is further strengthening the livelihood-oriented nature of the housing fund,” said Wu Jing, director of Tsinghua University’s Real Estate Research Center, as quoted by Xinhua News Agency. “On one hand, it broadens the scope of withdrawal and use. On the other hand, it expands the system’s coverage from traditional unit-employed workers to broader flexible employment groups, significantly enhancing the system’s inclusiveness.”

Beyond Buying: Broader Usage and Faster Loans

The revision extends far beyond coverage expansion. The draft changes expand eligible withdrawal scenarios from six to nine categories, adding renovation of self-occupied housing and payment of property management fees as qualifying purposes. This shifts the fund’s utility from merely supporting home purchases and rentals to encompassing home improvement and maintenance—reflecting the transition of China’s housing market from large-scale new construction to stock improvement.

According to NBD (National Business Daily), the reform also shortens the loan approval timeline from 15 working days to 10 working days, strengthens digital capability building, and promotes mutual recognition and mutual lending of housing funds across regions. Stricter penalties for fraudulent withdrawals and loans have also been introduced, including multi-year bans and fines for violations.

The revision also adjusts how fund appreciation revenue is allocated, shifting from low-rent housing to public rental housing and adding full life-cycle housing safety management as a new allocation purpose.

Local Momentum Already Building

The national framework provides legal backing for reforms that many localities have already been testing. Over 60 cities have adjusted and optimized housing fund policies in the first seven months of 2026, according to Dazhong Daily, with measures ranging from increased loan amounts and reduced down payment ratios to expanded withdrawal scopes and broader coverage groups.

In the Sichuan-Chongqing region, more than 940,000 flexible employment individuals have already opened housing fund accounts, with total contributions exceeding 4.2 billion yuan. Shandong Province reported that new flexible employment contributors grew by 109.6 percent year-on-year in 2025, while rental withdrawals reached 122.32 billion yuan—a 41.61 percent increase.

Shenyang has introduced six withdrawal measures including property fees, housing transaction taxes, parking space purchases, and elderly-appropriate renovation, with property fee withdrawals alone benefiting 27,800 workers and totaling over 70 million yuan in cumulative withdrawals.

The reform serves dual purposes: stimulating domestic consumption and extending social security coverage. With over 10 trillion yuan sitting in dormant housing fund balances nationwide, the policy aims to activate these funds for housing-related consumption in renovation, property management, and other sectors.

“The core direction of this revision is to better meet the diverse housing consumption needs of residents, especially new citizens and young people, and strengthen the housing fund’s supporting role in expanding domestic demand and promoting housing consumption,” said Yan Yuejin, deputy director of the Shanghai E-House Real Estate Research Institute, as reported by Tencent News.

Zhang Bo, dean of the 58 Anjuke Research Institute, noted that housing fund adjustments have become the preferred tool for stabilizing the real estate market this year because local governments have high autonomy in adjusting the fund and can implement city-specific policies quickly without additional fiscal expenditure.

Challenges Ahead

While the policy opens the door for gig workers, significant challenges remain. Flexible employment workers must self-fund the full contribution—unlike regular employees whose employers match contributions—and income volatility can make continuous contribution requirements (typically 6-12 months without interruption) difficult to maintain. Regional disparities in implementation also persist, with first-tier cities having mature policies while many third- and fourth-tier cities lack detailed guidelines.

The specific revised text has not yet been published, as the State Council approved the draft decision but the full details remain to be released. As the Xinhuanet report on the State Council meeting noted, the meeting emphasized better leveraging the housing fund’s role, broadening withdrawal and usage scope, expanding system coverage, and improving management service efficiency.

What to Watch For

The coming months will reveal how quickly the revised regulations are formally published and implemented across provinces. Key indicators to monitor include the pace of local implementation guidelines, the number of flexible employment workers who actually open accounts, and whether the housing fund’s expanded role translates into measurable support for both housing consumption and the broader real estate market.

For China’s 200 million gig workers, the reform represents a meaningful step toward social security parity—one that acknowledges the fundamental transformation of the country’s labor market and adapts its housing support system accordingly.