China to revise regulations on housing provident fund management

Chinese Premier Li Qiang has signed a State Council decree publicizing a decision to revise the Regulations on Management of Housing Provident Fund, which will take effect on September 20, 2026.

According to the decision, the scope of the fund's withdrawal and use will be expanded. For those withdrawing from the housing provident fund to pay rent, the eligibility threshold requiring rent to exceed a prescribed proportion of a household's wage income will be removed.

Analysts say the changes are intended to better align the housing provident fund system with evolving housing needs. Wu Jing, director of the Real Estate Research Center at Tsinghua University, said the fund's role in boosting housing consumption and improving people's living conditions will become more prominent. He noted that China's housing market is increasingly shifting from new home purchases to improving the quality of existing housing, creating growing demand for services such as renovation, maintenance and property management.

Housing provident fund savings can be withdrawn for new purposes under the revised regulations, including renovating the homes the contributors live in and paying property management fees for such homes.

The decision also states that the channels for investing and using the housing provident fund will be broadened, allowing housing provident fund management centers to use the funds to purchase policy-oriented financial bonds.

To improve management efficiency, the decision also emphasizes efforts to simplify the procedures for employees to apply for housing provident fund withdrawals and to shorten the review period for housing provident fund loan applications.

The decision, which strengthens risk prevention and control, stipulates that housing provident fund management centers should establish comprehensive, complete and accurate credit records and incorporate them into the national credit information sharing platform.

Amid efforts to expand the system's coverage, the decision clarifies that individual business owners, part-time employees and other people in flexible employment can pay voluntary contributions into the housing provident fund and enjoy policy support in accordance with the regulations.

(With input from Xinhua)