Adopted by the State Council on August 10, 2026; promulgated on August 18, 2026
Effective: September 20, 2026
The State Council has decided to amend the Regulations on the Administration of Housing Funds (the “Regulations”) as follows:
1. In Article 1, after “safeguarding the lawful rights and interests of owners of housing funds,” the phrase “better meeting the diversified housing consumption needs” is inserted.
2. Article 5 is amended to read: “Housing funds shall be withdrawn and used in accordance with the provisions of these Regulations, and no unit or individual shall divert them to any other use.”
3. Article 6 is amended to read: “The deposit and loan interest rates for housing funds shall be determined by the State Council.”
4. In Article 9, a subparagraph is added as subparagraph (7): “(7) examining and approving applications for the write-off of bad debts of housing funds.”
5. Article 18 is amended to read: “The contribution rates of housing funds for both employees and employers shall not be lower than 5 percent of the employee’s average monthly salary of the previous year, and shall not be higher than the maximum contribution rate prescribed by the State. The specific contribution rates shall be formulated by the housing fund management committee and, upon review by the people’s government at the corresponding level, reported to the people’s government of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government for approval.”
6. Article 23 is amended to read: “Housing funds contributed by an employer for its employees shall be included in the relevant costs and expenses in accordance with regulations, and shall be itemized in the budgets of State organs and public institutions.”
7. Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 24 are amended to read: “An employee may withdraw the balance stored in his or her housing fund account under any of the following circumstances:
(1) payment of rent;
(2) purchase, construction, renovation or major repair of the employee’s own residence;
(3) repayment of the principal and interest of a home purchase loan;
(4) decoration of the employee’s own residence;
(5) payment of property management fees for the employee’s own residence;
(6) retirement;
(7) complete loss of working capacity and termination of the labor relationship with the employer;
(8) settlement abroad; or
(9) other housing consumption circumstances approved by the State Council.
Where an employee withdraws housing funds pursuant to items (6), (7) and (8) of the preceding paragraph, the employee’s housing fund account may be closed at the same time.”
8. Article 25 is amended to read: “Where an employee applies for the withdrawal of housing funds, the housing fund management center shall, within 3 days from the date of accepting the application, make a decision on whether to approve or disapprove the withdrawal and notify the applicant; where the withdrawal is approved, the entrusted bank shall handle the payment procedures.”
9. Paragraph 2 of Article 26 is amended to read: “The housing fund management center shall, within 10 days from the date of accepting the application, make a decision on whether to approve or disapprove the loan and notify the applicant; where the loan is approved, the entrusted bank shall handle the loan procedures.”
10. In paragraph 1 of Article 28, the phrase “housing funds may be used to purchase government bonds” is amended to read “housing funds may be used to purchase government bonds and policy financial bonds.”
11. Article 29 is amended to read: “The value-added proceeds of housing funds shall be deposited into a special account for the value-added proceeds of housing funds opened by the housing fund management center with the entrusted bank, and shall be mainly used as supplementary funds for the risk reserve for housing fund loans, the administrative expenses of the housing fund management center, and the construction, raising, operation and maintenance of public rental housing and the whole-life-cycle safety management of housing and other relevant public expenditures in the housing sector.”
12. Paragraph 2 of Article 30 is amended to read: “The standards for the administrative expenses of the housing fund management center shall be formulated by the housing and urban-rural development department of the people’s government of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government, in conjunction with the finance department at the same level, in accordance with the expense standards for public institutions prescribed by the State.”
13. A new article is added as Article 31: “The housing and urban-rural development department under the State Council, the housing and urban-rural development departments of the people’s governments of provinces and autonomous regions, and the housing fund management centers shall strengthen digital and intelligent development, improve the efficiency and effectiveness of housing fund management services, achieve nationwide mutual trust and recognition of housing fund contribution records and other records, and promote the convenient and efficient handling of housing fund transfer and continuation, cross-region loans and other matters.”
14. Article 34 is renumbered as Article 35, and the phrase “the housing fund management center and employees have the right to urge employers to perform the following obligations on time” is amended to read “the housing fund management center shall urge employers to perform the following obligations on time.”
A paragraph is added as paragraph 2: “Employees have the right to urge employers to perform the obligations specified in the preceding paragraph on time.”
15. A new article is added as Article 38: “The housing and urban-rural development department under the State Council shall determine the public credit information in the field of housing funds, and the housing fund management centers shall establish comprehensive, complete and accurate credit records and include them in the national credit information sharing platform.”
16. A new article is added as Article 41: “Where a person illegally withdraws housing funds by fraud, forging certifying materials or other means, the housing fund management center shall order the return of the illegally withdrawn housing funds within a prescribed time limit, and the person shall be prohibited from withdrawing housing funds or using housing fund loans for 3 years.
Where a person illegally obtains a housing fund loan by fraud, forging certifying materials or other means, the housing fund management center shall order the return of the loan funds within a prescribed time limit, and the person shall be prohibited from withdrawing housing funds or using housing fund loans for 5 years.”
17. Article 40 is renumbered as Article 43, and the phrase “the competent administrative department for construction” is amended to read “the housing and urban-rural development department,” and “administrative sanctions” is amended to read “sanctions.”
Subparagraph (7) is amended to read: “(7) purchasing government bonds or policy financial bonds with housing funds without approval.”
A subparagraph is added as subparagraph (8): “(8) failing to urge employers to perform their obligations such as contribution registration of housing funds on time.”
18. A new article is added as Article 49: “Self-employed individuals, part-time employees and other flexible workers may voluntarily contribute to housing funds and enjoy corresponding policy support in accordance with regulations. The specific measures shall be formulated by the local people’s governments at or above the level of a city divided into districts.
The housing and urban-rural development department under the State Council and other relevant departments shall strengthen the guidance of the work on housing fund contributions by flexible workers.”
19. Article 46 is deleted.
20. Certain provisions are amended as follows:
(1) In Article 7, “the competent administrative department for construction” is amended to read “the housing and urban-rural development department,” “the People’s Bank of China” is amended to read “the People’s Bank of China and the banking regulatory authority under the State Council,” and “branches of the People’s Bank of China” is amended to read “branches of the People’s Bank of China and dispatched offices of the banking regulatory authority under the State Council”; in Article 8, “construction, finance and the People’s Bank of China” is amended to read “housing and urban-rural development, finance, the People’s Bank of China and the banking regulatory authority”; in Article 12, “the People’s Bank of China” is amended to read “the People’s Bank of China and the banking regulatory authority under the State Council”; Article 32 is renumbered as Article 33, and the phrase “the finance department and the housing fund management committee” is amended to read “the finance department, the housing and urban-rural development department and the housing fund management committee”; Article 39 and Article 45 are renumbered as Article 42 and Article 48 respectively, and the phrase “the competent administrative department for construction” therein is uniformly amended to read “the housing and urban-rural development department.”
(2) Article 37 is renumbered as Article 39, and the phrase “a fine of not less than 10,000 yuan but not more than 50,000 yuan” is amended to read “a fine of not less than 50,000 yuan but not more than 300,000 yuan”; Article 41 is renumbered as Article 44, and the phrase “the competent administrative department for construction” is amended to read “the housing and urban-rural development department,” and “shall be given the administrative sanction of demotion or removal from office” is amended to read “shall be given sanctions in accordance with the law”; Article 43 and Article 44 are renumbered as Article 46 and Article 47 respectively, and the phrase “administrative sanctions” therein is uniformly amended to read “sanctions.”
This Decision shall take effect on September 20, 2026.
The Regulations on the Administration of Housing Funds shall be amended accordingly pursuant to this Decision, with the article numbers adjusted accordingly, and shall be re-promulgated.
Disclaimer: This translation is provided for reference and informational purposes only. In the event of any discrepancy, the official Chinese text promulgated by the State Council shall prevail. This translation does not constitute legal advice.
