None of the 50 firms surveyed plan to exit.

The report, produced with support from the U.K. Department for Business and Trade and Kinyu, found that geopolitical tensions and policy uncertainty ranked as the top source of disruption, cited by 52% of respondents. Tariffs and trade restrictions followed at 50%.

But the survey suggests the damage comes less from the tariffs themselves than from their unpredictability. Nearly half of respondents — 46% — said uncertainty about future policy was the single biggest barrier to building supply chain resilience.

“We can absorb a tariff. What we cannot absorb is not knowing whether it will still be there next month,” one senior logistics executive said at a roundtable in Guangzhou.

Benjamin King, CEO of Kinyu and chair of the BritCham South China Supply Chain Working Group, said the findings reflect a business community that is adapting rather than retreating. “China’s role in global supply chains remains structural,” he noted, pointing to the report’s finding that more than half of respondents primarily rely on China for sourcing. Of those that have diversified to Southeast Asia, several reported costs 10–15% higher and continued dependency on Chinese raw materials upstream.

One in four firms reported making no supply chain adjustments in the past 12 months. The most common response among those that did act was increased monitoring of geopolitical risk, cited by 32%.

The report also found that net zero commitments are increasingly tied to supply chain operations. Roughly 85% of carbon emissions for global supply chain firms sit in Scope 3 — embedded in purchasing, supplier operations and logistics. No Chinese company has yet certified through BSI’s net zero pathway standard.

The findings draw on the survey of 50 firms, three roundtable discussions with over 60 supply chain leaders across Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Shanghai, facility visits, and a Net Zero Conference held in Guangzhou on March 10, 2026.

The post BritCham South China Releases Supply Chain Resilience Report appeared first on Kinyu.

The charge targets a specific business model, one where individual orders bypass traditional bulk shipping and go straight from a Chinese warehouse to someone’s door. But that model has grown so large, so profitable, and so deeply embedded in global logistics infrastructure that a customs charge is unlikely to stop it.

Shein and Temu popularised the approach. They were among the first to recognise that shipping individual orders directly to consumers was often cheaper than the traditional model of buying inventory in bulk, shipping it to a European warehouse, and distributing it from there. The savings come from keeping stock in China until the moment of sale, avoiding the costs and risks of holding inventory abroad.

Since then, the model has spawned an entire ecosystem of 3PL businesses offering services that simply did not exist before. EcomFlow, for example, lets a merchant in London list and sell products online while EcomFlow handles storage and delivery from a warehouse in China. The merchant is, in effect, a storefront. The warehousing, the logistics, and the customs liability are handled by EcomFlow. For the merchant, the practical effect is the ability to source and sell from China without needing any physical presence in the market they’re selling into.

Hundreds of operators now offer variations of the same service. China’s cross-border e-commerce trade reached 2.75 trillion yuan in 2025, up 15.5% from the year before, according to Chinese customs data.

For years, commentators assumed the model only worked because of de minimis exemptions, the threshold below which imported goods attract no customs duty. But while the exemption helped in the early stages, the underlying cost structure has since matured. Removing a tax benefit changes the margin. It does not change the arithmetic.

For small commodity manufacturers in the EU, it would no doubt be reassuring to believe otherwise. But the ability to source and sell directly from China is not really about tax advantages in many cases. For a growing number of buyers, it is simply the most economically rational way to trade.

One reason the model is so hard to displace is that storing goods in China is often cheaper than in Birmingham or Rotterdam, and fulfilling from origin ties up less capital in unsold inventory. Goods only move once an order is placed.

Getting goods to customers in Europe or the U.S. has also become faster and, in some cases, cheaper than a decade ago, helped by stronger air-cargo capacity. China’s air cargo throughput reached 21.9 million tonnes in 2025, up 9% year on year, and IATA recorded 2025 as a record year for global air cargo volume. For merchants, that infrastructure makes global scaling possible in a way it simply was not before.

Underpinning all of it is China’s manufacturing base. No other country has factories producing such a wide range of goods, clustered so closely together, with the ports, warehouses and freight networks already in place to ship them anywhere in the world within days.

Businesses outside of traditional e-commerce are now adopting similar models. Bloom Build, for instance, takes orders from individuals renovating their own homes for construction components and fulfills them directly from Chinese partners, without ever holding stock in Australia. In the coming years, similar providers are likely to emerge across a wide range of sectors.

Beijing has also been supportive of the model. In May 2024, Xi Jinping called for the accelerated development of new models such as cross-border e-commerce. Multiple ministries have since coordinated preferential tax treatment and eased administrative requirements for the sector, while state-backed industrial parks have sprung up offering sellers subsidised space and tailored tax support.

None of that is to say that buyers should abandon their China operations and outsource everything to a modern 3PL. Sourcing from China has always required supplier relationships and on-the-ground management, and that remains true here. What this model changes is not that reality, but where the logistics infrastructure needs to sit.

What companies like EcomFlow and Bloom Build are selling, at their core, is China’s supply chain capability. The ability to source from the world’s most competitive manufacturing base, store goods at low cost, and deliver them anywhere within days, without building any of that infrastructure yourself. And that’s likely worth far more than a 3 euro duty.

The post Why Selling Direct from China Keeps Growing appeared first on Kinyu.

Most of us aren’t running operations anywhere near that scale, and most whistleblowing cases don’t end in criminal courts. But the GSK story illustrates what’s at stake when a China operation isn’t clean, and what can happen when a disgruntled employee decides to make that someone else’s problem.

What Actually Counts as Whistleblowing in China?

In China, whistleblowing refers broadly to any report or complaint filed by an individual or entity about a suspected breach of law or regulation. Employees, competitors, anonymous sources and even other companies can all be “whistleblowers” under Chinese law.

For employers, the most common reports tend to involve:

• Violations of labour or social insurance law (unpaid wages, improper contracts, missing social contributions)
• Food, drug, or product safety violations
• Financial misconduct (bribery, fraud, securities violations)
• Environmental or workplace safety breaches

Reports can be made internally to a manager or compliance function, or externally to a labour bureau, regulator, or law enforcement agency (often for a reward).

Does China have Whistleblower Protections?

Under Chinese law, protection applies to any individual or entity that files a report or complaint — not just employees of the company being reported. However, in practice, most of the protections that matter to employers relate to their own staff.

Key protections for employees include:

• Confidentiality. Labour bureaus are legally required to keep the details of reports and complaints confidential, including the identity of the whistleblower.
• Protection from retaliation. Chinese law prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who file complaints. Employers found to have retaliated face fines from the labour authority, plus a rectification order.
• No contracting out. You cannot ask employees to sign away their right to file complaints. Any contractual term to that effect is void under Chinese law.

Do You Need to Have a Whistleblowing Policy?

For most foreign employers operating through a WFOE or joint venture structure, there is no strict legal obligation under Chinese law to implement a local whistleblowing policy. However, that doesn’t mean you should skip it.

A functioning internal whistleblowing channel gives employees somewhere to raise concerns before escalating externally to regulators. It also demonstrates good governance, which matters if you ever face regulatory scrutiny. Most multinational compliance frameworks (U.S. FCPA, U.K. Bribery Act, EU Whistleblowing Directive) already require group-level policies that your China entity should be aligned with anyway.

Financial Rewards for Whistleblowers

China’s reward system gives unhappy employees a real financial reason to go external rather than internal.

For major violations reported to market regulators, whistleblowers can receive up to 1 million yuan ($450,000). To qualify, the allegation needs to involve serious misconduct (think food or drug safety failures, systemic regulatory risks, or suspected criminal conduct).

For breaches of social insurance law in some cities, rewards are more modest — Beijing, for example, sets a range of 100 yuan to 5,000 yuan. At the high end, employees who report corruption or bribery by government officials can receive rewards of 500,000 yuan or more.

There are two defences here:

The first is cultural: a whistleblowing policy that employees actually believe in. Research consistently shows that people prefer to raise concerns internally first as going to the authorities is stressful and uncertain. They only go external when they feel they have no other choice. Give them a credible internal channel, take complaints seriously, and most people will use it.

The second is operational: keep your China operation airtight. Compliant contracts, accurate social security contributions, clean expense practices, no undeclared payments — if there’s nothing worth reporting, the reward system becomes irrelevant.

What To Do When a Complaint Comes In

First: take it seriously. Chinese company law imposes a personal duty of diligence on directors and senior managers. If a manager sits on a credible allegation, something goes wrong, and losses follow, they can face personal compensation claims.

Second: get local legal advice before doing anything else. If the allegation involves conduct that could amount to a crime, Chinese law may create an obligation to report it to the authorities. But going to regulators prematurely, before you understand the full picture, can make things significantly worse. It’s a judgment call that needs careful thought, and it’s not one to make alone.

Third: document everything. How you handle the complaint matters almost as much as the complaint itself.

The post Employee Whistleblowing in China: What Every Employer Needs to Know appeared first on Kinyu.

But the city has moved well beyond electronics assembly. BYD’s Zhengzhou super-factory helped push the city’s annual vehicle output past 1 million units for the first time in 2024. It’s also home to China’s first airport-based economic zone, a major freight rail link to Europe, and a large cluster of universities.

Put simply, Zhengzhou today looks very different from the city it was a decade ago. If you’re considering hiring in Zhengzhou, here’s what you need to know about wages, social insurance, leave entitlements and the local talent pool before you commit.

Quick Facts 

Who Should Consider Hiring in Zhengzhou?

Zhengzhou works for firms in electronics assembly, new-energy vehicles, auto components, frozen food, logistics, and aviation-adjacent industries that want access to one of China’s deepest labour pools at costs well below the coastal first-tier cities.

Henan’s roughly 100-million-strong permanent population gives Zhengzhou a recruitment advantage that few other cities can match, particularly for production, warehousing, and large-volume operations.

The city has also become a serious automotive hub, driven by BYD’s Airport Economy Zone super-factory and supported by SAIC, Yutong and Zhengzhou Nissan. That concentration is particularly valuable for companies in EV supply chains, battery components or auto parts.

Many businesses pair a Zhengzhou production or back-office operation with sales and corporate functions in Shanghai, Beijing or Shenzhen — using Zhengzhou for scale and cost while keeping client-facing roles in cities with deeper bilingual talent.

Talent Profile

English Proficiency 

Henan province scores 433 on the EF English Proficiency Index — among the lowest of all Chinese regions tracked, and well inside the “very low proficiency” band. Zhengzhou itself scores 439, ranking last among the 18 Chinese cities the index tracks individually, 21 points below the next-lowest city (Chongqing at 460), and around 75 points below Beijing and Hangzhou at the top.

For comparison, Hong Kong scores 549 and Beijing 514. Foreign companies hiring locally should expect meaningful language barriers for non-specialist roles, and may need to either recruit returnees and university graduates from Zhengzhou’s research universities, or budget for in-house English training.

Salaries

The minimum wage is 2,350 yuan per month ($330) and 23 yuan per hour ($3.23) for part-time work, effective from 1 December 2025. Zhengzhou sits in Henan’s Category A (top tier) bracket alongside the city’s surrounding county-level cities.

Zhengzhou’s non-private sector employees earned an average of 106,674 yuan ($15,000) in 2024, while private sector workers earned 57,738 yuan ($8,119).

Social Insurance

Zhengzhou follows Henan province’s social insurance framework. The contribution base (the salary amount used to calculate contributions) has minimum and maximum limits set by the local government:

Example: 

• If you hire someone at 5,000 yuan per month, their pension contribution is calculated on their full 5,000 yuan salary
• However, if you hire someone at 25,000 yuan per month, their pension contribution is calculated as if they earn 19,155 yuan (the maximum base)

Here’s how the contribution rates break down:

*Medical insurance employer rate is temporarily reduced from 8% to 7% under a Henan-wide policy.

**Work injury rates vary by industry risk classification (eight tiers, ranging from 0.2% for office work up to 1.9% for high-risk industries like mining or heavy industrial chemicals).

Housing Fund

Both employers and employees contribute to the housing fund in Zhengzhou. The contribution rate ranges from 5% to 12%, with both parties using the same rate. Each company can only choose one contribution rate that applies to all employees.

• The contribution base ranges from 2,100 yuan to 27,520 yuan per month.

To understand how these figures impact your company payroll cost, please use our salary calculator! 

Zhengzhou Social Insurance Considerations

The main complication is timing: contribution bases adjust annually in July to track the previous year’s average wage data, and the medical insurance employer rate has been on a “temporarily reduced” footing for several years.

Also worth knowing: Zhengzhou runs a notable graduate retention scheme. Doctoral, master’s, and bachelor’s graduates who settle in the city, find local employment, and enroll in social insurance can claim monthly living subsidies of 1,500, 1,000, and 500 yuan respectively for up to 36 months. The application window is three years from graduation. For employers competing for fresh graduate talent, this is a useful card to play.

Leave Polices

Zhengzhou follows Henan province’s leave framework, which is among the most generous in the country — particularly for maternity and paternity.

Sick Leave

Sick leave entitlements depend on the employee’s length of service and medical documentation. Sick-leave pay cannot be lower than 80% of Zhengzhou’s local minimum wage.

High Temperature Subsidy

Zhengzhou implements Henan’s mandatory high temperature subsidy for employees working in hot conditions from June to September.

• Employers must pay this subsidy to employees working outdoors when temperatures reach 35 C or above, or indoors if the workplace cannot be cooled below 33 C. The subsidy is 15 yuan per working day (raised from 10 yuan in 2022). Must be paid in cash; cooling drinks, watermelon, or other items cannot be substituted for the subsidy.

Note that Zhengzhou regularly hits 40 C in July and August. When the meteorological bureau issues a forecast of 40 C or above, outdoor work must be suspended; between 37 C and 40 C, outdoor work cannot exceed six accumulated hours per day. Build these compliance triggers into your summer planning, particularly for logistics, construction and delivery operations.

The post Hiring in Zhengzhou: Labour Laws, Salaries and Best Practices appeared first on Kinyu.

An HR Business Partner (HRBP) is the best hire you can make to help manage that complexity. They sit close to the business, handle everything from compliance and payroll to recruitment and employee relations, and act as the bridge between your headquarters and your China team.

Here’s what a good one looks like, and how to hire them.

What Does an HRBP in China Do?

Many foreign companies in China have a country manager focused on commercial outcomes and a finance person watching the numbers. You can think of the HRBP as the third leg — the one keeping the team compliant, engaged and functional. Here’s what a standard week might look like.

What to Look For When Hiring

How to Hire an HRBP in China

There are two obvious routes, and both have drawbacks.

You can hire someone directly, but without a legal entity in China that means navigating employment contracts, social insurance, tax withholding and local compliance from scratch. Most foreign companies aren’t set up for it. Or you can use a consultancy or outsourcing firm, which is lower commitment but comes with less control and no real accountability to your team.

The third option is an Employer of Record. An EOR becomes the legal employer in China, handling payroll, benefits and compliance, while you manage the person’s day-to-day work. You get a dedicated HRBP on the ground without the legal complexity of setting up your own entity.

That’s what Kinyu’s China Desk does. We handle the employment infrastructure and can connect you with experienced HRBPs in our network, so you can focus on finding the right person for your business.

Get in Touch

Need a senior HR Business Partner on the ground in China? Talk to us about combining an experienced HRBP with Kinyu’s China Desk EOR platform.

The post Hiring an HR Business Partner (HRBP) in China: Hiring Guide appeared first on Kinyu.

For international buyers sourcing from Chinese manufacturers, these events remain one of the most effective ways to find reliable suppliers, inspect products firsthand and build the kind of relationships that are difficult to establish over email or video call.

But with so many exhibitions on the calendar, choosing the right one matters. Attend the wrong fair and you will waste time, travel budget and energy walking halls full of products that have nothing to do with your business. Attend the right one and you could walk away with vetted suppliers, competitive pricing and a much clearer picture of what the market has to offer.

This guide breaks down the major China trade fairs by industry, explains how to pick the right event for your sourcing needs and offers practical tips for making the most of your visit.

Why Trade Fairs Still Matter for China Sourcing

Chinese trade fairs are large-scale exhibitions where Chinese manufacturers, exporters and service providers showcase their products to domestic and international buyers. These events range from massive, multi-industry exhibitions like the Canton Fair to highly specialised shows focused on a single sector such as textiles, electronics or furniture.

For international buyers, trade fairs serve three main purposes. First, supplier discovery. Walking a trade fair floor gives you access to hundreds or even thousands of manufacturers in a single location, many of whom do not have a significant online presence. Second, product verification. You can see, touch and compare products in person rather than relying on catalogue images and samples shipped across the world. Third, relationship building. Face-to-face meetings remain the most effective way to establish trust with Chinese suppliers, negotiate terms and gauge whether a manufacturer is the right fit for your business.

China’s trade fair ecosystem is the largest in the world. Events take place across major cities including Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing, with most concentrated in the manufacturing hubs of the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta.

Why Choosing the Right Trade Fair Matters

Not all trade fairs are created equal. Some cover broad product categories and attract tens of thousands of exhibitors, while others are niche events with a few hundred booths. Choosing the wrong fair can mean spending thousands on flights, hotels and logistics only to find that the exhibitors are not relevant to your industry.

There are a few common pitfalls. Attending a generalist fair when you need specialist suppliers can leave you overwhelmed and without actionable leads. Visiting a smaller regional fair when you need access to a wide pool of manufacturers can limit your options. And timing matters too. Some fairs coincide with peak production seasons when factories are busiest, which can affect your ability to secure meetings or negotiate favourable terms.

This is where having someone on the ground with sourcing experience in China can make a big difference. At Kinyu, we often help international businesses identify the right exhibitions for their industry and make the most of their time in China.

Major Trade Fairs in China by Industry

Furniture Trade Fairs in China

China is the world’s largest furniture exporter, and the country’s furniture trade fairs reflect that scale.

China International Furniture Fair (CIFF) is one of the largest furniture exhibitions in the world. Held in Guangzhou in March and Shanghai in September, CIFF covers home furniture, office furniture, outdoor living, home decor and home textiles. The Guangzhou edition alone draws thousands of exhibitors from across China and internationally. CIFF is particularly strong for buyers sourcing mass-market and mid-range furniture, though it also features a growing design-led segment. For property developers, hotel groups and interior designers, it is an essential event.

Interzum Guangzhou runs alongside CIFF and focuses on furniture production, woodworking machinery and interior materials. If your interest is in the components and materials side of the furniture supply chain rather than finished products, this is the one to attend.

The Canton Fair also features a significant furniture and home decor segment in its second phase, offering a broader but less specialised selection.

Electronics Trade Fairs in China

China’s electronics manufacturing ecosystem is centred in the Pearl River Delta, and Shenzhen in particular. The city hosts several major electronics fairs throughout the year.

China Electronics Fair (CEF) is the country’s longest-running electronics exhibition, held since 1964. The Shenzhen edition typically takes place in April, covering electronic components, semiconductors, sensors, consumer electronics, smart home devices and emerging technologies like AI computing and IoT. With over 1,200 exhibitors, CEF is a comprehensive sourcing platform for buyers across the electronics supply chain.

China Information Technology Expo (CITE) runs alongside CEF in Shenzhen and focuses on information technology products and solutions, including smart terminals, robotics, wearables and data centre technologies.

Hong Kong Electronics Fair, organised by the HKTDC, is one of the largest electronics exhibitions in Asia. While technically across the border, it is easily accessible from Shenzhen and attracts a significant number of mainland Chinese manufacturers. It is particularly strong for consumer electronics and components.

ES SHOW in Shenzhen (typically held in October) is a dedicated electronics sourcing fair focused on components and materials for the electronics manufacturing and processing industry.

The Canton Fair’s first phase also covers electronics and household electrical appliances extensively.

Textile and Apparel Trade Fairs

China’s textile industry is vast, and the trade fair landscape reflects the diversity of the sector.

Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics is the flagship textile event in Asia. Organised by Messe Frankfurt, it runs twice a year with a spring edition (March) and an autumn edition (August), both at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai. With over 3,000 exhibitors spanning 190,000 square metres, it covers apparel fabrics, accessories, functional textiles and sustainable materials. It is the go-to event for fashion brands, garment manufacturers and textile traders sourcing fabrics and trims from China.

China International Trade Fair for Home Textiles (Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles) is the companion event for buyers sourcing bedding, curtains, upholstery fabrics and other home textile products. It typically runs in August alongside the apparel edition.

The Canton Fair’s third phase covers textiles, garments and accessories, providing a broader but less specialised alternative.

Industrial Trade Fairs in China

For buyers sourcing industrial products, machinery, hardware and tools, China hosts several heavyweight events.

China International Industry Fair (CIIF) is one of the country’s most important industrial exhibitions, held annually in Shanghai in October. CIIF consists of nine concurrent fairs covering industrial automation, robotics, metalworking, CNC machine tools, new materials, energy and environmental technologies. It attracts exhibitors and visitors from across the global manufacturing sector and is essential for anyone sourcing industrial equipment or components from China.

China International Hardware Show (CIHS) takes place in Shanghai in late September. Organised by Koelnmesse and the China National Hardware Association, it is the largest hardware fair in Asia and the second largest in the world after Cologne. CIHS covers power tools, hand tools, building hardware, fasteners, safety equipment and garden tools, with around 2,800 exhibitors.

China International Hardware Fair (CIHF) is a separate event held in Shanghai in March, covering a similar range of products with around 3,100 exhibitors and a strong focus on connecting international buyers with Chinese hardware manufacturers.

Find the Right Trade Fair and Suppliers with Kinyu

China’s trade fair ecosystem is enormous, and for international buyers it represents one of the best opportunities to find reliable manufacturing partners. But getting the most out of these events requires preparation, industry knowledge and, ideally, support from people who understand how sourcing in China actually works.

Kinyu is China’s leading supply chain-focused Employer of Record. We help international businesses build and manage sourcing teams on the ground in China, from procurement specialists and quality control inspectors to logistics managers and sourcing office setups. Whether you are attending your first trade fair or your 15th, our team can help you identify the right events, prepare for your visit and follow up with suppliers after the show.

If you are planning a sourcing trip to China and want to make the most of it, get in touch. We would love to hear from you.

The post A Guide to China Trade Fairs: How to Choose the Right Fair for Your Industry appeared first on Kinyu.

Part of the reason is that the plan contains few concrete mandates. Only about a third of its 20 key indicators are binding. Economist Adam Tooze compares it to the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals: it sets priorities and targets, but leaves the details to others.

In China’s case, those others are the ministries, provinces and municipalities that each draft their own plans based on the national document. The specific changes that matter most to employers, like shifts to social insurance rates or leave entitlements, will follow over the months and years ahead as lower-level plans are published.

Yet, what the national plan does provide is a clear direction of travel. And from that, it is possible to make some confident predictions about what China’s regulatory environment will look like for HR and payroll over the next five years.

Here is what we expect.

Prediction 1: Wage Floors Will Rise

The plan identifies raising household consumption as a share of GDP as one of its core goals. Its most employer-relevant lever for doing so is raising incomes.

National Development and Reform Commission Secretary-General Yuan Da confirmed this at a press briefing, adding that the government would formulate an income growth plan for urban and rural residents. But what will that actually look like?

The most direct intervention will be raising the minimum wage. Minimum wages are set at the city and provincial level, and Beijing has encouraged local governments to raise them to support consumption and wage growth. Most regions revise their minimums at least once every two years, and around half did so last year, according to Caixin.

Further increases seem likely. And when minimums rise, they tend to pull up wages for lower-paid workers more broadly.

For higher earners, direct intervention is unlikely. But officials have said they will “reform remuneration systems and improve wage consultation mechanisms.” In plain terms, this means creating more formal processes for workers to negotiate pay.

In China, workplace negotiations like this go through official unions, which are all part of the state-backed All-China Federation of Trade Unions. These unions have not historically pushed hard on pay. But the government could ask them to play a bigger role, which could mean more formal annual pay talks between workers and employers, particularly at foreign companies.

Beyond policy, broader economic trends point the same way. As China moves up the value chain into higher-skilled industries, competition for talent is intensifying and wages are rising regardless of government action.

Prediction 2: Social Insurance Costs Will Increase

China’s ageing population is another major focus of the plan. And funding elderly care and pensions is driving big changes to the social insurance system — the mandatory payroll contributions that employers and employees pay into to cover health care, pensions and unemployment. For employers, this is likely to be the most immediate cost pressure.

Two big changes are coming. The first is a new type of contribution. Since 2016, China has been testing a long-term care scheme in 49 cities, covering care for elderly and disabled people. It now covers more than 300 million people, and the government plans to roll it out nationwide by 2028. Employers will likely have to pay into this on top of their existing contributions, at rates set locally.

The second is pensions. A senior NDRC official said the government plans to gradually raise basic pension payments for urban and rural residents during the five-year plan. No one has said how this will be funded, but higher payouts have to be paid for somehow. And higher employer and employee contributions are the most likely answer.

Both measures come amid a sharper enforcement push. In 2025, China’s top court ruled that any agreement between employers and workers to waive or reduce social insurance contributions is invalid.

Prediction 3: More Parental Leave

The plan includes a push to raise China’s birth rate, under the banner of building a “childbirth-friendly society.”

One lever for achieving this is to improve the maternity leave system. Maternity leave provision remains uneven across China despite recent expansions. So we expect more cities and provinces to raise entitlements during the plan period, accompanied by new local subsidy schemes. Shanghai, for example, already offers social insurance subsidies that can halve employer contributions during a female employee’s maternity leave.

Paternity leave is another area to watch. Most provinces offer fathers 15 to 30 days, but there is no national standard.

Beyond that, analysis of the plan points to the introduction of shared parental leave, a separate entitlement that either parent can take. Some provinces already offer this, and more are likely to follow. A senior CPPCC member echoed this during this year’s “two sessions”, calling for reforms that encourage couples to share child care more equally. Proposals like this at the “two sessions” often lead to provincial or national action.

Prediction 4: Flexible Leave Arrangements Will Become More Common

China has also begun testing whether longer holidays can boost consumer spending, a trend we expect to see expand over the next five years.

The 2026 Spring Festival, for instance, was extended to a record nine days, which Xinhua described as a move to boost domestic consumption and public well-being. The 2026 government work report also proposes spring and autumn breaks for primary and secondary school students, similar to half-terms in the U.K. Several regions are already piloting these, largely as a way to get families travelling around China.

But this only works if parents can actually take time off, and that tension is already being discussed at the highest levels.

“If students get time off, but their parents don’t, how can they travel together?” Zhao Wanping, an National People’s Congress deputy, told Xinhua.

To address this, some advisers have called for stronger legal protections to ensure that taking time off does not hurt performance reviews or career prospects. Others have proposed linking employer compliance with leave rules to tax incentives or corporate credit scores. Employers should expect tighter rules around annual leave over the next five years.

What We Expect Over the 15th Five-Year Plan

To summarise:

• Wages: Minimum wages will rise, pulling up pay more broadly. Keep salaries competitive.
• Social insurance: A new long-term care contribution is coming and pension costs will rise. Make sure you are fully compliant.
• Parental leave: Maternity, paternity and shared parental leave entitlements will all expand.
• Annual leave: Expect stronger rules ensuring employees can actually take their leave.

The post What China’s 15th Five-Year Plan Means for Employers appeared first on Kinyu.

Eight countries closed their airspace within 48 hours of the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran launching on Feb. 28. Dubai International, the world’s busiest airport for international passengers, took a direct hit from Iranian missiles. Doha and Abu Dhabi shut down. More than 21,000 flights were cancelled.

Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways, carriers that between them handle up to a quarter of all passenger capacity between Europe and Asia, were largely grounded.

The Baku Bottleneck

With Russian airspace closed to most Western carriers since the 2022 Ukraine invasion, and the southern corridor through Turkey, Iraq and Iran now blocked, the only viable route linking Europe to Asia for non-Russian-friendly airlines runs through a narrow strip of airspace above the Caucasus.

Flightradar24 data shows traffic through Azerbaijani airspace surging since the conflict began. But the corridor’s reliability was called sharply into question on March 5 when Iranian drones crossed the border and struck the terminal building at Nakhchivan International Airport in Azerbaijan’s exclave region, injuring two civilians. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev called it “an act of terror” and placed the country’s military on full combat readiness.

Azerbaijan closed its southern airspace in response. The main overflight routes through the north stayed open, but the point was made. This is not a stable corridor. Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a full-scale war in 2020 that shut large areas of airspace across the region. Border clashes in 2022 closed cross-border waypoints again.

Put simply: the Baku corridor is the world’s last functioning air bridge between Europe and Asia. And it runs through one of the most volatile border regions on the continent.

Passenger Fares and Route Chaos

For anyone who needs to travel to China for business, the immediate concern is cost. Fares on what remain of the available routes have surged. Cathay Pacific economy seats from Hong Kong to London sold out for days. When they reappeared, one-way tickets hit $6,850.

And fares are climbing not just because of demand to China. They’re climbing because airlines that fly to China are now absorbing traffic that has nothing to do with China.

For instance, Hong Kong is taking on a massive amount of traffic that would have flowed through Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi. For Australians and Kiwis heading to Europe, Cathay via Hong Kong, Singapore Airlines via Changi, or the Chinese carriers are really the only games in town right now. That means more competition for every seat transiting the region, whether you’re heading to Guangzhou or just passing through.

HSBC analysts predict Hong Kong premium-class yields could remain 30-40% above 2025 averages through the summer peak.

Those booking through Western carriers should also factor in the risk that this situation could deteriorate further at short notice. If the Baku corridor closes, Western airlines will have almost no viable route to Asia at all.

Anyone who absolutely needs to be in China on a specific date should probably fly with a Chinese carrier that can transit Russian airspace. Air China, China Eastern, China Southern and Hainan Airlines bypass the affected corridors entirely.

For businesses in South America with China operations, the transpacific route via North American hubs avoids the affected airspace entirely and is probably the most dependable option right now. Connecting through Los Angeles, San Francisco or Vancouver to pick up a direct Pacific crossing sidesteps the Middle East and Caucasus corridors altogether.

Broader Implication

However, the broader question for businesses with China operations goes beyond ticket prices. Two of the three major east-west air corridors have now failed in the space of four years. The third is a sliver of Caucasus airspace that just took a drone strike. Anybody with a China supply chain has spent the past five years learning that shipping routes are not as reliable as they once assumed. The same lesson now applies to air travel.

If a key supplier meeting, a Canton Fair visit or a factory audit depends on someone flying in from Europe next month, it is worth asking: what happens if they can’t get there? If the answer exposes a gap in your China operation, it might be time to stop assuming the flights will always be there, and start investing in people who are already where the work is.

The post Is the Last Air Route to Asia for European Airlines About to Close? appeared first on Kinyu.

But without a solid HR function on the ground to back them up, you’re leaving a lot to chance. You’ve got boots on the ground with nobody making sure they’re pointing in the right direction. Here are three reasons why local HR support is the backbone of a functioning China operation.

1. Holiday Leave Won’t Take Itself

In China, employees often won’t take their leave. They’ll quietly accrue overtime, rack up hours, and never say a word about it, especially if there’s a financial incentive to keep going.

That sounds productive until you’re staring down a mountain of owed leave and overtime liabilities at year end.

Under Chinese labour law, if an employer fails to arrange for employees to use their annual leave, the company must pay 300% of the employee’s daily wage for each unused day. The daily wage is calculated by dividing the monthly salary by 21.75 working days.

Even if an employee quietly chose not to take their leave, the employer is still on the hook unless it can produce written proof the employee voluntarily waived their entitlement. Foreign companies often aren’t aware of this rule and end up paying significant sums to Chinese employees who were.

China’s Labour Law mandates overtime pay at 150% of the standard wage on weekdays, 200% on rest days, and 300% on public holidays. Without proper oversight, overtime can quietly stack up. And when employees know that unchecked hours mean a bigger payout, there’s little incentive for them to flag it.

An HR presence on the ground can manage this: making sure people actually take their holidays, tracking overtime exposure in real time, and ensuring you don’t end up with a nasty surprise when someone leaves and files a claim. Without that, you’re essentially hoping nobody notices. And in China, the labour authorities tend to side with the employee.

2. Teams Are Built, Not Assembled

Hiring in China goes beyond finding someone who ticks the boxes on a job spec. It’s about how that person fits into the existing team dynamic. Personalities, working styles, the unspoken stuff that makes a team gel or fall apart. Get it right and the returns are significant.

Gallup’s research shows that engaged teams are 21% more profitable and 17% more productive than their disengaged counterparts, with a 59% reduction in turnover.

Someone managing HR from a head office thousands of miles away simply isn’t going to pick up on any of the interpersonal dynamics that drive those numbers. You need someone in the room, someone who understands the local culture and can gauge whether a new hire will complement the team or throw a spanner in the works.

3. You Need a Counterbalance

China operations often run semi-autonomously, driven by time zone gaps and distance from head office. That creates a real risk of one person or a small group quietly consolidating too much control. Hiring friends and family into roles, sidelining people who push back, making decisions that serve themselves rather than the business. Most of the time it’s not dramatic. It just creeps in when nobody is watching closely enough.

A local HR function prevents this. It provides an independent set of eyes and ears on the ground, reporting directly to head office. It ensures hiring decisions are based on merit, that company policies are followed, and that employees have someone to raise concerns with who isn’t their direct manager. Without it, you’re relying on the very people who benefit from a lack of oversight to hold themselves accountable.

The bottom line: Managing a team in China from the other side of the world is doable. Managing them well without local HR support? That’s a different story. If you’re serious about getting it right, you need people on the ground who understand the culture, the labour law, and the day-to-day reality of your workforce.

The post Three Reasons You Need HR on the Ground in China appeared first on Kinyu.

“It was very easy for us to overestimate the capacity of people who spoke good English to actually deliver on the job,” said Monga, founder of Guangzhou-based IMEX Sourcing Services. “In interviews, people who speak good English will always outshine the ones who don’t.”

It’s not hard to see why. Despite having more English language learners than any other country, China’s proficiency levels remain low. Only around 10 to 25 million people in the Chinese mainland speak English fluently, roughly 1-2% of the population, depending on how you define proficiency. The EF English Proficiency Index ranks China around 86th out of 116 countries and territories, with a national score of 464, below the global average of roughly 477 to 488.

That makes hiring English speakers in China competitive and expensive — and the ones who do exist tend to cluster in teaching, marketing and sales, not on factory floors or in sourcing teams.

The EF data breaks down English proficiency by job function, based on test scores out of 800. In China, marketing professionals scored highest at 529, followed by strategy and project management roles at 517 and sales staff at 510. Purchasing and procurement scored just 459, among the lowest of any professional category. Put simply, the people already doing supply chain work in China are among the least likely to speak good English.

For supply chain companies hiring on the ground, that means the pool of candidates who can impress English-speaking executives on a video call is small, fiercely competed for and expensive. The much larger pool of skilled professionals who cannot gets overlooked entirely.

“When we created more role-specific tests, we realized that there were amazing, very talented Chinese-speaking people who understood sourcing, understood quality control,” Monga said. “They were very good at negotiation, very detail-oriented. And that completely changed our mindset.”

Even so, limited English proficiency is often a dealbreaker for recruiters — no matter how stacked their CV. After all, how do you manage someone you can barely talk to?

The temptation for many companies, especially those with limited resources, is to keep searching for a single hire who can manage suppliers in Chinese and report back to headquarters in fluent English. But as the data shows, those candidates barely exist.

Monga’s answer was to stop looking for one person and build a team with differentiated roles instead. The key was deciding upfront which roles actually needed English and which didn’t. IMEX separated client-facing account management, where English is essential, from technical sourcing and quality control work, where deep supply chain knowledge matters more.

“English is an important factor,” he said. “But if you can get more specialized skills and separate the roles, then that would be something I would advise.”

Build a Team, Not a Single Hire

The model that often works is a team structure with a bilingual leader who can communicate directly with headquarters, supported by specialists who do not need to be fluent speakers. Those team members still need to read and write English well enough to handle emails, reports and key documentation, but they do not need to lead a call with London or New York. That distinction alone opens up a significantly wider talent pool and brings in candidates with stronger technical credentials.

Yes, building a team costs more than a single hire. But the tradeoff is access to deeper expertise at every level.

For companies not yet ready to build a full team, we suggest starting with one key hire: a supplier account manager. But choose this person with the future in mind. Look for someone with the sourcing and supplier management skills you need today, but also the communication ability and leadership potential to manage a broader team as your China operations grow. That way, your first hire becomes the foundation of your team, not a role you eventually need to hire around.

“I always recommend anyone, if they have the resources, to get a certain degree of specialization in their teams early, because that makes everything else a lot easier in terms of quality control, communication and a whole host of other things,” Monga said.

Communication Runs Both Ways

Yet, there is one condition that makes or breaks this approach. Building a team around lower-English roles only works if those employees are properly supported in their own language. HR issues, workplace concerns, contract questions and day-to-day management all need to be handled in Chinese by someone who understands the local labour environment.

Without that, companies risk the same problems that come from managing entirely by remote: miscommunication, disengagement and sudden resignations.

For firms without the scale to justify a dedicated China-based HR hire, employer of record providers can fill that gap, offering local-language HR support alongside employment compliance and payroll. Either way, the principle is the same: if your team operates mostly in Chinese, their support structures need to as well.

The Bottom Line

The practical takeaway for hiring managers is straightforward:

• Build a team, not a single hire
• Put a strong English-speaking leader at the top
• Hire specialists for their technical ability, not their fluency
• Make sure the whole team has access to Chinese-language HR support locally

The companies getting the most from their China teams are often the ones who stopped treating English as the first filter.

Watch the Full Interview

Want to hear it straight from Ash? In this episode of “On The Ground,” Kinyu CEO Benjamin King sits down with Ash to discuss how businesses can build and scale sustainable China sourcing teams. Watch the full interview on YouTube.

The post Does Your China Hire Really Need to Speak English? appeared first on Kinyu.