China plans to allow the hiring of Filipino domestic household workers and offer them monthly salaries of 100,000 Philippine pesos (S$2,700).

The news was reported by the Philippine Star on Jul 31.

It quoted the Philippines' Labor Undersecretary Dominador Say disclosing that the Chinese embassy officials had discussed its plans with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and further negotiations will take place in September.

According to Say, the deployment of these workers will be limited to China’s five major cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen (in Fujian province). The other two cities were not disclosed.

While the news of Filipinos potentially entering the domestic household workers' market in China have started circulating online, there has been no confirmation of the plans from the Chinese government.

With rising affluence, there is a growing demand among Chinese households to employ live-in domestic workers.

Filipinos are in high demand as they are proficient in English which allows them to help supervise children in their studies.

Even though foreigners are currently not allowed to work as domestic workers in China, there are Chinese households who employ Filipino helpers, who are working illegally on tourist visas.

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The Chinese government's plans to negotiate directly with the Filipino government may be an attempt to bring in line the erstwhile unregulated industry.

According to various Chinese news sources, the average monthly wage of a Filipino domestic household worker in Beijing is about RMB6,000 (S$1,200). If they are bilingual and experienced, they can receive about RMB7,500 (S$1,500) per month.

The plan to set the salaries at 100,000 Philippine pesos, which is an equivalent to about RMB13,000, will mean significantly higher costs for households who desire their services.

It is also likely to impact the supply of Filipino domestic household workers to other countries such as Singapore.

Say said that the improving ties between China and the Philippines under President Xi Jingping and President Rodrigo Duterte was a reason for this decision of hiring Filipinos as domestic workers instead of other nationals.

In another sign of warming ties, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made a two-day visit to Manila last week where the two countries discussed the possibility of embarking on joint exploration of natural resources in the South China Sea.

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