Not joining a company means you must arrange your own social insurance: you’ll need to enroll in pension and medical plans at your place of work, as household registration restrictions have now been lifted.

You must pay the full amount for both pension and medical insurance yourself, calculated based on the local contribution base — often over a thousand yuan per month. The contribution base is simply the benchmark figure used to determine premiums. This is the most easily overlooked recurring expense on this path, and the difficulty lies in making those payments on time every month.

These provisions stem from the “Guiding Opinions on Protecting the Labor Rights and Interests of Workers in New Forms of Employment.” It states: “All regions must lift household registration restrictions so flexible workers can enroll in basic pension and medical insurance at their place of work; for exceptionally large cities where full implementation isn’t immediately feasible, local authorities should create conditions for gradual rollout. Employers must be urged to enroll workers in social insurance per the law. Workers who don’t qualify for standard employee pension or medical plans should be guided to enroll in urban/rural resident programs to ensure full coverage. For those operating independently via platforms, rights and obligations are governed by civil law.” (National policy, effective 2021)

人力资源社会保障部等八部门 (2021). 关于维护新就业形态劳动者劳动保障权益的指导意见（人社部发〔2021〕56 号，第二、八条）. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2021-07/23/content_5626761.htm；国务院办公厅 (2020). 关于支持多渠道灵活就业的意见（国办发〔2020〕27 号）. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2020-07/31/content_5531613.htm

The wording “lift restrictions” leaves room for exceptions in very large cities — it doesn’t mean household registration rules are completely abolished nationwide. Exact implementation details depend on the specific city where you intend to enroll. The benefit is rated “high” because interrupted coverage directly impacts long-term pension and medical benefits, which far outweigh the monthly costs. Yet those costs are real too: full self-payment often exceeds a thousand yuan per month. For information on how to restore interrupted coverage and accumulate years of service, see Section 7, Article 18 (“Interrupted Social Insurance Payments”). Additionally, selling agricultural or daily goods at government-designated locations/times, or offering services that legally require no license, doesn’t necessitate a business license per State Council Document No. 27 (2020).