China’s Unemployment Insurance Fund Posts Deficit as Benefit Payments Jump

China’s unemployment-insurance fund ran an annual deficit of 9.13 billion yuan ($1.35 billion) in 2025, as payments to unemployed workers and related support rose sharply while lower contribution rates restrained revenue.

The fund paid 161.6 billion yuan in basic-living benefits for unemployed people, including unemployment payments and health-insurance contributions made on their behalf, up 34.2% from a year earlier, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said in its annual statistical report.