Operational Analysis Report on Shanghai Housing Provident Fund (3rd Quarter of 2013)
In the third quarter, the municipal Provident Fund Center stepped up law enforcement publicity efforts amid new fiscal year’s HPF payment base adjustment drive in a bid to proactively expand HPF system coverage, and attained steady growth of HPF withdrawal and amount of use and sustained overall balance of liquidity as well as fast increase in services indexes such as the collection amount and the number of paying employees.
1. Accomplishments of Various Services Indexes
Housing Provident Fund Collection: Collection of municipal housing provident fund and additional provident fund during January-September increased by 16.45% year-on-year to 46.879 billion yuan, including 36.271 billion yuan housing provident fund, namely 77% of total collection amount, and 10.608 billion yuan additional provident fund, namely 23% of total collection amount. The cumulative collection of housing provident fund and additional provident fund amounted to 401.6 billion yuan as of end-September.
Housing Provident Fund Payment: The municipal housing provident fund paying units climbed to 0.1573 million as of end-September, showing a year-on-year increase of 0.0257 million units by 19.53%. Paying employees edged up 0.4888 million in size to 5.3047 million, equivalent to 10.15% year on year.
Housing Provident Fund Withdrawal: Withdrawal of housing provident fund totaled 29.121 billion yuan during January-September, with a year-on-year increase rate of 33.58%, including 23.231 billion yuan withdrawal due to housing consumption (up 38.07% year on year), and 5.890 billion yuan one-off closing-account withdrawal due to causes such as retirement (up 18.40% year on year). The cumulative withdrawal of housing provident fund hit 223.1 billion yuan as of end-September, equivalent to 56% of the cumulative collection amount.
Housing Provident Fund Loans Lent out: 48.742 billion yuan worth of housing provident fund home loans were lent out as of end-September, up 67.67% year on year, to 126300 households, up 56.31% year on year, including 1.516 billion yuan worth of home loans to 5419 affordable housing purchasing households during January-September. Housing provident fund home loans balance recorded 170.929 billion yuan as of end-September.
During January-September, 4.132 billion yuan worth of housing provident fund loans was lent out to support security housing construction. And cumulative provident fund loans in support of security housing construction amounted to 7.164 billion yuan as of end-September, accounting for 59.79% of the entire housing provident fund loans of the municipality endorsed by the central government, as scheduled to bolster municipal security housing construction.
Risks of Housing Provident Fund Loans: The delinquency rate for housing provident fund home loans was 0.197‰ as of end-September.
Housing Provident Fund Value-Added Proceeds: Housing provident fund services revenues during January-September recorded 6.225 billion yuan, and services expenses amounted to 3.379 billion yuan, with value-added proceeds hit 2.846 billion yuan, up 16.07% year on year.
2. Characteristics of Housing Provident Fund Operation in 3rd Quarter
(1) Cumulative collection amount exceeded 400 billion yuan, yet grew at a slower pace.
Cumulative HPF collection amount exceeded 400 billion yuan to hit 401.6 billion yuan as of end of third quarter. In recent years, HPF collection amount has consecutively maintained a growing momentum , with a shorter time span needed for collection of an incremental 100 billion yuan. Statistics show that time spans needed for amassing 0-100 billion yuan, 100-200 billion yuan, 200-300 billion yuan, 300-400 billion yuan worth of cumulative collection amount are 14.4 years, 4 years, 2.4 years and 1.7 years respectively since the foundation of the housing provident fund system in 1991. Below is an illustration of cumulative HPF collection amounts of the municipality in chronological order:
HPF collection amount during January-September is 46.879 billion yuan, up 16.45% year-on-year, skidding 3 percentage points from same period of last year, largely due to slowdown in growth of average monthly payment amount per capita following the fiscal year’s HPF payment base adjustment. As per data of the municipal statistics bureau, average monthly income of the municipality for 2012 edged up 8.3%, sliding about 3 percentage points compared with last year. Consequently, following HPF payment base adjustment based on average monthly income in 2012, paying employees’ 2013 fiscal-year average monthly payment amount turned out to be 832 yuan, up just 4.8% from same period of last year. Further analysis indicates employee monthly payment amount growth rate varies by economic type of the unit, with an 8.4% for state-owned units ranking at the top, followed by a 7.4% for foreign-funded enterprises, a 5.3% for collective enterprises, and a 3.0% for private businesses. In addition, employees with newly-opened accounts recorded 0.6813 million year to date, accounting for 12.8% of all paying employees. The average monthly payment amount hit just 432 yuan, weighing on sagging growth of the collection amount.
(2) Third quarter’s incremental net growth of employee headcount hit a new high in the wake of multiple measures taken to expand HPF system coverage.
The municipal Provident Fund Center adopted multiple measures in third quarter to expand HPF system coverage with the support of the municipal trade union. Firstly, publicity was strengthened to promote HPF system via various forms of mass media to enhance legal awareness amongst units and employees of law enforcement for compliance with Regulations on Management of Housing Provident Fund and Provisions of Shanghai Municipality on Administration of Housing Provident Fund, giving full play to the units’ initiatives and willingness to make HPF payment. Secondly, law enforcement inspection was conducted to monitor and supervise liable units earnestly conducting self checkup of HPF payment situation by means of self-checking and self correction, onsite inspection and law enforcement confab appointment, in an effort to ensure fulfillment of self correction and improvement in cases of nonconformities such as failure to have accounts opened or failure to make due payment. Thirdly, services were enhanced to further facilitate the units’ handling of HPF payment process through promotion of online services. HPF paying employees in third quarter surged 72.33% year on year, with a net increase of 0.2759 million, setting a new high in net increase of the quarterly size since HPF paying employees of the municipality recorded a rebounding sign in 2005’s statistical report.
(3) HPF home loans declined in third quarter in pace with subdued housing transaction volume of the municipality compared to the previous quarter.
Third quarter’s municipal housing transaction edged up from same period of last year due to such factors as regularities of seasonal variations in housing transactions in the municipality, yet declined slightly compared to second quarter. Consequently, HPF home loans demand edged down in third quarter from the previous quarter, and accepted loan application added up to 14.8 billion yuan, down 5.672 billion yuan and 2.195 billion yuan respectively compared to first and second quarters. HPF home loans lent out in third quarter slipped accordingly, with cumulative quarterly lending sliding 3.35 billion yuan to 15.363 billion yuan, down 17.9%. Below is a diagram showing monthly sums of HPF home loans both processed and issued during January-September 2013.
(4) New service platforms were launched to facilitate diversified service accesses for citizens in an effort to meet various demands of paying employees.
The expansion of HPF system coverage spurred increasing demand and awareness of paying employees for apprehending and protecting their relevant legitimate rights and interests. The municipal Provident Fund Center went all out to create new service platforms to facilitate multiple accesses to HPF services in a bid to suit and meet paying employees’ demand for information about their HPF personal accounts and progress of relevant services in process. Shanghai Provident Fund’s Sina and Tencent Weibo platforms were launched in third quarter. New edition of SPF mobile app went live, with new access to HPF home loans queries. HPF hotline 12329 was equipped with additional lines and service personnel. The aforesaid measures for service improvement complement and interconnect one another to facilitate HPF services in a move to enable the broad mass to know HPF system, consult and handle relevant services and inquire personal account information. The Center’s weibo posts in third quarter recorded 465 pieces, and SPF mobile app users’ log-in clicks amounted to 1.001 million person times, up 408% year on year. Website personal account queries hit 4.847million person times, up 51% year on year. Hotline 12329’s incoming calls answered totaled 0.482 million, up 56% year on year. Below is a bar chart showing year-on-year growth of incoming calls answered relating to various services in third quarter of 2013.
3. Recent major issues in focus
(1) Keep on strengthening law enforcement inspection of liable units’ HPF payment.
Shanghai Provident Fund Management Center shall keep on strengthening law enforcement inspection of units’ HPF payment, supervising and monitoring nonconforming units’ implementation of remedial plans within the prescribed timeline, whether violations are due to failure to go through HPF payment registration or HPF employee account opening formalities, or failure to make due and full HPF payment. Those nonconforming units that refuse to take corrective actions shall be closely monitored or even penalized in accordance with Regulations on Management of Housing Provident Fund, Provisions of Shanghai Municipality on Administration of Housing Provident Fund, and Measures on Management of Shanghai Provident Fund Administrative Enforcement. As for those nonconforming units, Shanghai Provident Fund Management Center, apart from inflicting penalties pursuant to relevant regulations, shall also publicize them on Shanghai Provident Fund Website, and provide relevant violation information to Shanghai public credit information service platform, and apply to the people’s court for putting them under bad-credit name list pending administrative enforcement.
(2) Strengthen services and take the initiative to bolster joint-ownership security housing purchasers’ HPF home loans.
As deployed by the municipal government, joint-ownership security housing purchasing applicants in 2013 are readying for opting for specific apartments and signing contracts in the fourth quarter. The municipal Provident Fund Center takes the initiative in resorting to service measures on consultation and process of HPF loans for home purchasers of joint-ownership security housing in an effort to further facilitate procedural formalities for purchasers’ loan application or solution. At loan consultation stage, the Center shall adopt a host of measures comprising prior loan information notice, ad-hoc loan consultation and HPF hotline 12329’s call center services, with relevant loan information printouts delivered to each purchaser ahead of time in order to improve loan consultation efficiency and quality. At loan processing stage, the Center shall take the “collective reservation and dispersed processing” approach to increase loan processing capability and save loan processing time. The municipal Provident Fund Center shall step up efforts to improve service demeanor and quality and provide highly efficient and convenient services to home purchasers of joint-ownership security housing.
Shanghai Provident Fund Management Center
October 2013
