Chinese Social Insurance Reimbursement Guide - How to Withdraw your Social Security Payments
During a person's time working in China, if they are working legally, you are likely to be paying into the Chinese social insurance system. What happens to those payments if you decide no longer to work in China? One thing that you can do is to obtain a reimbursement for those accrued payments.
To get this reimbursement you need to visit your local social security bureau in China. The Shenzhen PSB (Public Security Bureau) is located near the Gangxia metro station exit D. Walk straight until you reach a large building with lion statues called Haitianzonghe Dasha(海天综合大厦) and the social insurance department is on the 2nd floor. At the top of the escalator on the right you'll see an electronic ticket machine. You can try to take a ticket yourself, just look for F number ticket(企业综合业务), or you can ask one of the greeters for help “I need to refund my insurance card (我想要退社保)". Take a seat near the windows and wait for you number to be called. Here's what you need to bring: A. Passport（护照） B. Reimbursement Application Form （书面申请原件）
You can pick up the application at the social security bureau but make sure to ask your company's HR for the company number and your social insurance number before going to the bureau.
C. Employment Separation Documents (离职证明) Ask your company's HR for these documents and also ask them to suspend your social insurance account and do this at least 24 hours before going to the bureau. D. Social Insurance Card （本人社保卡） You can have the payment reimbursed to this card but you need to go and activate it the China Construction Bank ( 中国人民建设银行) with your passport. The original pin of the card is 955330 which you can change after you successfully active the card. or you can have the reimbursement paid to a bank card of one of the top four Chinese banks only: BOC (Bank of China)/ABC (Agricultural Bank of China) / ICBC / CCB (China Construction Bank) E. A copy of passport and insurance card (护照和借记卡/社保卡的复印件各一张) Once you've completed the reimbursement process it normally takes 3-4weeks to return back to the available account. If you want to withdraw the reimbursement outside of China then you have to make sure that your Chinese bank card is activated for use abroad.