Maternity Leave in China: Pay, Eligibility, and Employer Obligations

Most global teams make the same mistake when they hire in China: assuming maternity leave is 98 days everywhere. It’s not. That number is only the national minimum—and most guides stop at that headline.

But maternity leave in China runs on two layers. The national law sets the baseline across the country, then provincial rules can extend those entitlements. Once provinces add their own extensions, the timeline nearly doubles. Beijing and Shanghai land around 158 days. Some provinces stretch past six months.

That’s why maternity leave in China catches international employers off guard. You’re not dealing with a single policy, but a layered system that changes by location.

This guide walks through China’s maternity leave rules end to end: the national baseline, how leave entitlements change by province, who qualifies, and what employers are responsible for.

What is China’s maternity leave policy?

China’s maternity leave policy sets a national minimum of 98 days of maternity leave for female employees. That baseline comes from China’s national labor laws, but an employee’s actual leave period depends heavily on where they work. Provincial rules can add weeks or months on top of that number, often pushing the leave total well above what many countries offer.

During basic maternity leave, eligible employees may receive a maternity allowance through the maternity insurance fund instead of their regular salary. The allowance is generally calculated based on the company’s average monthly wage for the previous year. If an employee isn’t covered by maternity insurance, the employer is responsible for paying their maternity leave wages.

The policy doesn’t stop at leave and pay. Employees returning to work while breastfeeding are entitled to daily breastfeeding time, and many provinces offer additional family-related leave, including paternity leave and childcare leave.

How long is maternity leave in China?

The 98-day minimum is the headline number that every quick search quotes. But the total leave period can expand quickly:

• Standard maternity leave. 98 days total, including 15 days before childbirth and 83 days after. Most provinces extend this minimum, so the actual entitlement depends on where the employee works.
• Difficult births. An additional 15 days of leave for a difficult birth.
• Multiple births. An additional 15 days for each additional child born in the same delivery.
• Miscarriage leave. 15 days if a miscarriage occurs before four months of pregnancy, and 42 days if it occurs at four months or later.
• Paternity leave. There’s no single national entitlement. Each province sets its own rules, so the duration of paternity leave in China depends entirely on local laws.

How maternity leave varies by province

The 98-day national minimum is the floor. Provincial extensions make the actual entitlement highly location-specific.

Take a few examples. Both Beijing and Shanghai provide 158 days, while Guangdong offers 178 days. Zhejiang grants 158 days for a first child and 188 days for a second or third child. Sichuan recently extended its leave to 188 days, following a provincial update in late 2025.

This is why employers hiring in China can’t rely on the national figure alone. You must stay current as provinces continue to update their policies.

*In Beijing, employees can add another one to three months with employer approval.

These figures reflect current provincial regulations, but maternity leave policies often change as governments adjust family and birth-support measures. Before hiring or onboarding an employee, verify the latest rules for the province where they work.

Who is eligible for maternity leave in China?

The 98-day national minimum applies to any female employee in a lawful employment relationship in China. Nationality doesn’t matter. The 2012 Special Provisions on Labor Protection of Female Employees don’t exclude foreign employees, and no employer can cut someone’s pay because they’re pregnant, giving birth, or breastfeeding.

Getting the maternity allowance, though, depends on enrollment. Employers must register eligible employees for maternity insurance. Once the employee meets the local contribution requirements, the fund pays out. If the employee isn’t enrolled—or hasn’t reached the required contribution period—the employer covers the allowance, or at least the gap between what the fund covers and what’s owed.

Beyond that, eligibility depends on who you’re hiring and where they work:

• Full-time employees. A valid labor contract plus maternity insurance enrollment covers both the leave and the allowance.
• Foreign employees. They get the national 98-day baseline and the allowance if they’re enrolled in social insurance. Provincial extensions aren’t guaranteed and depend entirely on local policy, so always check city-level rules.
• Employees in different provinces. The national baseline holds everywhere. What shifts by location is the fine print: contribution thresholds and whether provincial extensions apply.

Eligibility runs on local rules just as much as national law. If you’re hiring across multiple provinces, confirm each employee’s actual entitlement rather than applying one blanket policy.

Employer responsibilities during maternity leave in China

Maternity leave sits within the wider framework of China’s labor laws, and the obligations run throughout the employment relationship: before leave starts, while your employee is out, and after they’re back at their desk.

Four responsibilities carry the most weight:

• Maintain compliant employment practices. Know the employee’s actual leave entitlement based on their province and document the dates correctly. Their contract must stay active through the protected period, even if it would otherwise expire.
• Coordinate maternity insurance contributions. Register eligible employees for maternity insurance, and keep contributions current. What counts as “correctly filed” varies by location, so verify the local process rather than assuming what worked in one city works everywhere.
• Protect employees from unlawful dismissal. You can’t cut an employee’s pay or end their contract because they’re pregnant, giving birth, or breastfeeding. And if their contract term happens to end during that window, you must extend it until the protection lifts.
• Manage payroll and statutory benefits correctly. Calculate the maternity allowance based on the employee’s insurance enrollment, and keep them covered under China’s social security system throughout the leave period. After they return to work, breastfeeding breaks and childcare leave must continue.

Mistakes here are high-stakes. They trigger financial penalties, labor disputes, and reputational damage that outlast the individual case.

Simplify China maternity leave compliance with Pebl

China maternity leave isn’t a policy to memorize once and file away. The national baseline is just the starting point. Provinces set their own leave durations, insurance rules differ by city, and all of it touches payroll compliance and employment protections at once. Without local expertise, that’s a lot of compliance risk to manage.

Even mature HR teams stumble here. Provincial entitlements shift with little notice, and a single miscalculated allowance or contract extension error can create legal exposure and leave an employee unsupported at the worst possible time. A global policy on paper isn’t enough to cover those risks. You need international HR compliance strategies with local monitoring built in.

That’s what Pebl’s Employer of Record delivers. Backed by 18 local employment licenses and more than 70 independent audits, we track statutory leave requirements in over 185 countries, including every Chinese province, so your HR team isn’t chasing regulatory updates manually.

Alfie, Pebl’s AI assistant, adds speed and clarity. Ask a province-specific question about leave entitlements, reinstatement, or employer obligations, and get an answer instantly in more than 50 languages.

The 98-day headline number was never the whole story. Our experts handle the layers underneath so you don’t have to.

Contact Pebl to simplify maternity leave compliance in China and everywhere else you hire.

FAQ

Is maternity leave paid in China?

Yes. Instead of a regular paycheck, employees get an allowance during basic maternity leave. If the employee is enrolled in maternity insurance, the fund pays the allowance based on the company’s average monthly wage from the prior year. If they’re not enrolled, the employer pays. Either way, if the allowance is lower than the employee’s normal wage, the employer makes up the difference.

Can foreign employees apply for maternity leave and maternity allowance in China?

Yes. Under national rules, employers are required to enroll lawfully employed foreign staff in China’s social insurance system (maternity insurance included), so foreign employees can access allowance the same way Chinese employees do. The 98-day minimum leave applies regardless of nationality. Provincial extensions are more of a gray area and depend on the city, so double-check local rules.

How do you calculate China maternity leave allowance?

Take the company’s average monthly wage from the prior year, divide by 30, then multiply by the number of leave days. Say an employee is entitled to 158 days of leave and the employer’s average monthly wage is RMB 12,000. That works out to RMB 63,200.