I think your information about China is quite outdated, or you are seeing it from a more biased perspective.
I'm a half-pat, and I don't get housing benefits; most of us don't get benefits beyond the the last two years, expats are different: they get juicy packages. Chinese employees get to contribute to a housing fund (as part of social security benefits), but as far as I can tell they don't get much from that; its basically state-mandated savings to buy a house in Beijing they'll never be able to afford. SOEs still give housing out (as well as government orgs like universities), but most people don't work for SOEs.
About education, the same problem applies to anyone without a hukou (foreigner or Chinese). Its quite ridiculous, we pay all of those taxes to keep society going and see nothing for it, and do you know how much tuition at an international school runs? I can't afford to even have kids unless I can swing a juicy expat package someday.
I'm ok with registering at the PSB when I move or once a year when my visa is renewed, but every month when I have to go on a trip? Even Switzerland's Controle de Habitant wasn't that extreme, annoying. And even worse, the policy differs between PSB offices, (Shanghai is better than Beijing) even in the same city (Haidian is better than Chaoyang)!
The paying of social security taxes for foreigners is a new thing this year, and they still don't know how it will work out. I don't mind paying taxes, I don't mind state funded retirement, or even the fake social health insurance. I just hate unfairness; every year the deal seems to get worse.
I'm a half-pat, and I don't get housing benefits; most of us don't get benefits beyond the the last two years, expats are different: they get juicy packages. Chinese employees get to contribute to a housing fund (as part of social security benefits), but as far as I can tell they don't get much from that; its basically state-mandated savings to buy a house in Beijing they'll never be able to afford. SOEs still give housing out (as well as government orgs like universities), but most people don't work for SOEs.
About education, the same problem applies to anyone without a hukou (foreigner or Chinese). Its quite ridiculous, we pay all of those taxes to keep society going and see nothing for it, and do you know how much tuition at an international school runs? I can't afford to even have kids unless I can swing a juicy expat package someday.
I'm ok with registering at the PSB when I move or once a year when my visa is renewed, but every month when I have to go on a trip? Even Switzerland's Controle de Habitant wasn't that extreme, annoying. And even worse, the policy differs between PSB offices, (Shanghai is better than Beijing) even in the same city (Haidian is better than Chaoyang)!
The paying of social security taxes for foreigners is a new thing this year, and they still don't know how it will work out. I don't mind paying taxes, I don't mind state funded retirement, or even the fake social health insurance. I just hate unfairness; every year the deal seems to get worse.