Working in China - Route Wiki

China is, by some measures, the world's biggest economy, and still growing. Many foreigners are interested in coming to live in China in order to gain work experience, language ability, career opportunities, and knowledge of a fascinating and complex culture. As of 2020, there were nearly 850,000 foreigners living in China.

This article covers working in mainland China. If you're interested in working in Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan, the considerations are different due to separate legal systems and other differences.

See working abroad for a more general discussion of opportunities and considerations about working overseas.

Visas and residence permits

Visa rules and regulations in the People's Republic of China change frequently, and even different cities will have different regulations and requirements. Additionally many employers try to bend the rules, but this is riskier than it might sound. The information below should be taken as only a rough general guide. Any reputable immigration agency will be aware of all the latest regulations for your Chinese visa.

Most foreign nationals working in mainland China are required to obtain a residence permit. This is in effect a one-year multiple entry visa; a permit holder can leave China and return with no difficulty.

The safest way to come to a job in China is to enter the country on a Z visa. There can be some confusion with the terms; the Z visa used to be a one-year working visa, but now the Residence Permit is the long-term visa and the Z is an entry visa good for 30 days, long enough to get the Residence Permit. The Z visa can only be obtained outside of mainland China, and it requires a letter from the employers to accompany your passport when you apply. Generally the employer will request a signed contract, a health certificate (the more official-looking stamps, the better), a copy of your passport details, and a copy of your diploma. Teachers must have at least a bachelor's degree to qualify for a Z visa, and your application will automatically be rejected should you not have one. If you are over 60 and they are asking for their provincial office to accept you, they may also require that you have your own health insurance.

It used to be common for people already in China to go to Hong Kong or Macau in order to apply for their Z visa. Around the time of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the rules tightened up considerably; they have relaxed some since, but not entirely. This is also true for getting Chinese visas in other nearby countries such as Vietnam, Korea, Japan or Singapore. Some people have been told they must return to their home countries to obtain a Z visa. Others have been able to get a Z visa in Hong Kong, provided the invitation paperwork clearly stipulates it.

Make sure everything about your paperwork is done legally. There was a time when enforcement was lax and it was easy to get away with working illegally in China, or at least that was the popular wisdom. That time is over. The Chinese government is tightening visa restrictions and cracking down on illegal employment and behavior. Unfortunately, not all employers have caught up to the new state of affairs, so it is incumbent on you to make sure everything is above board. Do your own research, and if the employer is pushing you to do something that seems dishonest or against the rules, don't give in.

Alternative visas

The residence permit is not the only way to live or work in China. Other visas which apply in some cases are:

The permanent residence card. This allows you to enter and exit China freely and work without restriction. In theory it gives you most of the same rights as a Chinese citizen, so naturally it's hard to obtain. You need to fulfill one of the following conditions: five years married to a Chinese citizen (or being a dependent of a Chinese family member), four years employment in a senior post in China, a substantial investment for three years, or significant other "contributions to China". Your chances of approval are very slim even if you meet one or more of the requirements.
A multiple-entry talent visa is available for highly qualified individuals and is valid for five or ten years. The applicant's spouse and children can obtain relative visas. This allows you to stay up to 180 days at a time.
Citizens of Hong Kong and Macau who hold a valid Home Return Permit (回乡证) can live and work in mainland China indefinitely for the duration of their permit's validity. Permanent residents of Hong Kong and Macau are still considered to be foreigners in mainland China and are required to obtain a residence permit to live and work in the mainland.
Citizens of Taiwan who hold a valid Taiwan Compatriot Pass (台胞证) can live and work in mainland China indefinitely for the duration of their pass' validity.
An F visa is a business visa which allows some work, such as providing training or consulting services to a Chinese client. Getting the visa requires a formal invitation from a Chinese company and quite a bit of other paperwork. The F visa does not allow you to be paid in China and is usually good for only one or three months at a time (after which you must leave and re-enter mainland China to restart the clock).

Some companies may ask you to work on a tourist visa or business visa (or in certain cases a student visa or family visit visa), as it saves costs and hassle for them, and less-qualified applicants may not be eligible for work visas. Though common, this is illegal, and as of 2019 the government is cracking down on foreigners living and working in China illegally. If you're caught, possible penalties include jail time, fines, deportation, and worst of all, a permanent label as a convicted felon and illegal worker that may prevent you from getting visas for China and other countries in the future.

For family members of a work permit holder, a dependent visa is available and can be applied for outside of China with the original birth and/or marriage certificates. It does not allow the dependent to work.

Neither marriage to a Chinese citizen nor owning a business there is sufficient by itself to become fully resident in China, though either may eventually lead to a permanent residence visa. In the meanwhile, marriage qualifies you for family visit visas and a company can get you business visas or, with more expense and paperwork, residence permits.

Residence permit procedure

In most cases, a Chinese member of the employer's staff — in English, the Foreign Affairs Officer (FAO), in Chinese the wai ban (outsider boss) — will guide foreign employees through the residence permit process and even handle much of it for them. The employer will generally cover part or all of the costs, though details vary; this may be something to negotiate before coming, but the amounts are not huge. Your spouse and any children going with you may require an even higher amount for their residence permit.

Getting a residence permit requires dealing with two organisations, the State Administration for Foreign Expert Affairs (SAFEA), which is Beijing-based but has offices around the country, and the local Public Security Bureau (PSB, the cops).

SAFEA issues a Foreign Expert's Certificate (FEC) or a Foreign Teacher's Certificate (FTC) and most foreign workers will need one or the other, though for skilled trades an entirely different certificate issued by a provincial department of labour can sometimes be used instead. In theory, the FTC is for elementary or high school teachers and the FEC is for tertiary education or experts in industry; in practice, nearly everyone seems to get the FEC. In theory, both FEC and FTC require at least a bachelor's degree; this is usually, but not always, enforced. Whether it is depends at least on where you are, how well-connected your employer is, and how much trouble they are willing to go to. If you lack a degree, it helps if you have other certifications or diplomas.

Once you have an FEC or equivalent, getting the residence permit is routine. It requires an appearance at the local PSB, registration of your residence address with them, a small fee, and a health certificate. If you complete your health certificate in your home country, be sure to get copies of the x-ray, lab reports and other machine documents. Also have the form stamped with the official seal of the hospital. Even though you do all of this you will quite likely be required to take another physical in China. The physical is usually very quick: EKG, chest x-ray, sonogram of heart and stomach area, blood test, and urine check. However, the time of completion and various tests may change depending on the province.

In general your permit is valid only for the city where it's issued and only for the company that helped you apply. It doesn't allow you to work in other cities or get a part-time job on the side.

Residence permits must be renewed once a year, and when you do it you have to leave your passport at the PSB office for several days. If you want to travel within China while your passport is at the PSB, this presents a bit of a problem, because traveling within China requires your passport for things like buying train tickets, boarding flights, and checking into hotels. But don't worry, when you bring your passport to the PSB, they should give you a receipt with your name, photo, information, and a PSB seal. You can use this receipt for identification anywhere in China that you'd normally need your passport, including for boarding domestic flights.

In some cities but not others, you must redo your police registration every time you re-enter mainland China. Even where this is required, regulations vary—in one city you might have to re-register with the police station closest to your residence, whereas in others any police station will do. If your employer isn't sure, check with the local PSB.

People over 60 often have trouble getting visas because of their age, and some job ads specify an age range. There are conflicting reports on whether this is SAFEA policy, SAFEA advice to provincial departments that make their own policies, or a question of health insurance. There are some exceptions, including a few people in their seventies still working legally, but there are also cases of people being asked to leave because they were turning 60 or 65.

Considerations

Salary and tax

Salaries for general white collar jobs are still low compared to Western levels, but are climbing. English teachers typically make somewhere between ¥8,000–25,000 per month (2019), with pay varying depending on qualifications (including experience, degrees, certifications, and coming from an English-speaking country/being a native speaker), location, hours worked, type of school, and negotiation. Foreigners usually make more than their Chinese colleagues, but the gap is shrinking.

Pay attention to the details, as a significant fraction of your compensation will often come in the form of bonuses, free housing, a housing allowance, or flight reimbursement. A contract completion bonus is common, but may be withheld if you took unpaid time off to go back home and visit family.

For low-to-moderate pay levels, Chinese income tax is very low. Chinese salaries are usually quoted in RMB per month, and in the ¥5,000-20,000 range, the monthly deduction from pay is a few hundred yuan, which is insignificant compared to deductions in a western country. In this range employers are responsible for calculating the taxes and deducting them from your salary; you are not required to file a Chinese tax return.

Once salary increases above ¥30,000 per month, taxes are significantly higher. Certain companies will use some creative accounting to get around this (for instance, structuring some compensation as reimbursements).

At executive pay levels, income tax is much higher; the rate is 45% if you are legally a resident and have a salary over ¥100,000 a month ($180,000 US a year at a mid-2016 exchange rate). Various tricks, such as taking a smaller salary but more benefits, or spending only a few months in China at a time so you are not classed as resident, can sometimes reduce this. Employees of multinational companies or joint ventures who are posted to China sometimes continue to get their salaries, and to be taxed, back home and get only a small living allowance in China.

In some cases, additional state social insurance contributions will be added; that varies between cities.

If you've been a resident of China for six years in a row or more starting in 2019 or later, you may be taxed on income you earn outside of China as well. (This rule is intended to stop people from evading taxes by being paid in multiple countries at the same time.)

There are strict controls and limits on moving currency out of China. Transferring a large amount of money to your home country will likely be difficult and may not be possible at short notice. Different expats have different preferred methods for getting money out of the country; all of them are inconvenient or expensive, and because the rules change frequently and are applied inconsistently, you never know for sure what will work until you try it. Even exchanging large amounts of Chinese yuan to foreign currency in cash may be difficult for foreigners (though it's easier for Chinese citizens). All of this is another reason that being paid in Hong Kong or Macau (or into a bank account back home) may be advantageous. Indeed, some expats send money home from mainland China by moving it through Hong Kong first. Your FAO or a Chinese bank can help you understand the rules.

Some companies may encourage you to evade taxes by leaving part of your salary out of the contract and paying it to you in Hong Kong, in cash, or into an overseas bank account. This type of arrangement is common in China, as both the employee and the company save money on taxes and social insurance. However, it is illegal and puts you at risk. If the company decides not to pay, you'll have no recourse if it was supposed to be under the table. Not only that, the Chinese government is clamping down on tax evasion, especially when foreign citizens are involved. Make sure that all of your salary and benefits are listed in your contract and that all applicable taxes are being paid.

Health

Please see the main article for a detailed discussion about health care in mainland China.

You will need to decide between obtaining expensive private health coverage, or relying on the public hospital system. As a foreigner, you are generally advised to rely on private international hospitals, as the standard of treatment and care in local Chinese public hospitals is generally not up to that of developed countries. If you live near the border, consider seeking treatment in Hong Kong or Taiwan, as the standard of treatment and care is on par with Western standards.

Many companies require a hospital note for sick days, which could involve spending a day waiting in a hospital with a nasty flu just to get the hospital note. Private cover will get you seen quickly but at a high premium. Try and negotiate private cover with your employer.

Research the level of air pollution in whatever cities you're considering. Being exposed to unhealthy levels of smog on a short vacation is one thing, but living with them day in and day out is another. Beijing's air pollution is the most notorious, but many parts of China have levels of smog considered unhealthy by international standards—read up and talk to a doctor before you accept a medium- or long-term job in a city with significant air pollution. The good news is that the Chinese government is beginning to pass stricter environmental protection laws, and air quality has improved substantially in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai, though there is still a long way to go. Basic information can be found at Smog and China#Smog, but it's mainly aimed at short-term travellers, not expats.

Language considerations

Learning at least some Mandarin is strongly recommended for those who wish to work in China. Although many work opportunities may only require English and some Chinese people speak some English, you will certainly encounter many situations where Mandarin is useful. On a professional level connections are very important in China, and it is worthwhile to know other professionals; not all of them will speak English.

Mandarin has been the language of education and national media since the 1950s, and functions as the lingua franca for communication between different language groups anywhere in China. You can expect any educated Chinese person to be completely fluent and most others to have at least some Mandarin.

In some areas the local dialect is useful as well: Cantonese for much of Guangdong, Minnan in South Fujian, the Wu dialects in much of East China, and so on. Ethnic minority areas often have their own ethnic languages that are sometimes unrelated to Chinese such as Uyghur, Mongolian or Korean. In most cases Mandarin is sufficient for communication, but learning the local language/dialect may be helpful or even essential for breaking into social circles. Moreover, because so few foreigners make the effort, attempting to communicate in the local langugage or dialect will almost certainly impress the locals, and may even earn you preferential treatment in shops and restaurants.

In the rich coastal areas many less skilled workers — factory workers, maids, waitresses, taxi drivers, etc. — will be migrants from other parts of China who speak Mandarin but not the local language. Some of the managers and officials may be as well.

Culture

Chinese business culture places a strong emphasis on making connections (关系 guānxi), particularly with those in positions of power. Gift giving is de rigueur in China, and it is customary for the Chinese to shower their friends, relatives, colleagues and even bosses with lavish gifts in order to improve their connections, particularly when returning from overseas trips. While you will likely be at the receiving end of such gifts from Chinese friends and colleagues, you will be expected to reciprocate the favour, especially when you travel abroad. Giving money should always be done discreetly, and should typically be placed in a red envelope (红包 hóngbāo).

The Chinese government is cracking down on the practice of providing gifts to government officials in order to tackle corruption. Be careful when providing any form of gift to a government official, and frankly consider not doing it at all since it could have legal implications for you in the future.

When working as a teacher, it is common for parents to shower you with lavish gifts with an expectation of preferential treatment for their children in return. Children from richer families have been known to present expensive Gucci or Louis Vuitton handbags to their school teachers on behalf of their parents. Although the practice is not illegal, you can regard this as unethical and politely refuse to accept with no offence usually taken. The government is clamping down on this practice in the larger cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, but it continues to thrive in other parts of China.

The unfortunate reality in China is that it's common for employers to bend the rules or break the law. This puts you, the employee, at risk, especially because you are not as familiar with local laws and procedures as the company you're working for. Many companies will happily take advantage of you if they have the chance, so you have to look out for yourself: read up on laws and requirements, check that everything is being done by the book, and make sure you're receiving all the agreed payment and benefits. Examine your contract carefully before signing it, and if you're working at a higher pay level, have an attorney who specializes in assisting foreign workers in China read the contract before you sign it too. If something seems fishy, ask for clarification or walk away.

In some ways, the distinction between one's personal and professional life is not as clear cut in China as in the West. For instance, it is de rigueur for Chinese people to invite their bosses and colleagues to important life events such as weddings.

Time off

The Chinese New Year and National Day "Golden Week" holidays are week-long vacation periods, where many working-class Chinese head back to their villages to spend time with family and others take trips to go sightseeing; expect all forms of transportation and any popular destinations to be jam packed during this period. Expats and wealthier Chinese often make use of these holidays to make overseas trips.

Around some national holidays, the workweek or school week may be rearranged, with students or employees going to work on a Saturday or Sunday to make up for a day off during the week. This includes the two Golden Weeks, which are three-day national holidays with the surrounding weekends rearranged to make seven days off in a row.

For Chinese New Year, it's quite normal for business and schools to close for more than just the weeklong official holiday – 10 days, two or three weeks, or even a month or more is not unheard of. In this case, you should be paid for the three days of government-mandated holiday, but you may or may not be paid for the rest of the time off, depending on your contract.

Your contract may or may not include paid annual leave. If you're teaching English, you may even be expected to work on national holidays, as demand for private English classes is especially high when students have time off. You might be compensated for these days with additional vacation days to use later. Some cities (including Shanghai and Shenzhen) require employers to pay employees 300% of their normal wages if they have to work on a public holiday, but this is not strictly enforced. Your employer's expectations and policies should be spelled out in your contract, of course.

An additional annoyance for teachers is that schools don't set the dates for all of their breaks at the beginning of the school year. In particular, the dates of the break around Chinese New Year may not get set until very late, which makes it hard to buy tickets for a trip before the prices go up.

As for weekends, since 1995 China has had an official five-day workweek (Monday–Friday) and a two-day weekend. In practice, some workers are still expected to work six days a week (Monday–Saturday) and others work every day with only a few days off a year, depending on the industry. The number of hours per day varies as well; as an extreme case, China's tech industry is notorious for the grueling "996" schedule (09:00-21:00, 6 days a week), though as of 2021 the Chinese government is attempting to crack down on this. English teachers often have a more unusual schedule, which may change from week to week, to accommodate students who want to come to take classes after work, after school, or on weekends. Also, even teachers who normally work a five-day week may be asked to work a few Saturdays or Sundays to make up for holidays during the week.

Destinations

Most cities and regions are available to you. The big exception is Tibet, which requires a permit even for visiting and has few economic opportunities for foreigners. Xinjiang and areas near the border with North Korea may also have difficulties.

Your choice of city will be guided by opportunities in your field, local language, climate, commute to work and cost of living. Most foreigners are in the coastal provinces, which tend to do more international trade and be more developed. However since the turn of the millennium, the Chinese government has been devoting resources to developing the inland provinces, thus resulting in more opportunities being available for foreigners in those areas, and also provided tax breaks to people who are willing to invest in poorer parts of the country.

Shanghai – mainland China's most "international" city with many foreigners working in education, finance, engineering and many other fields. As of the 2010 census, Shanghai had 208,000 foreign residents, about a third of China's total; some of these were students, but many were working. A disadvantage is that Shanghai has a high cost of living.
Other major cities near Shanghai — Suzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Wuxi — are also booming and have large contingents of foreign workers. The smaller cities of East China also have some.
Guangzhou & Shenzhen – The new powerhouse cities of the south produce much of the world's electronics. Other cities in the Pearl River Delta (Dongguan, Foshan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai) are also big on international trade and thus have work opportunities. They are convenient for trips to Hong Kong and Macau. Guangzhou has China's largest African community.
Beijing as the capital has some of the best teaching opportunities, and many foreign companies choose to base themselves here. The nearby city of Tianjin serves as Beijing's port city, and also offers opportunities for those working in the shipping industry. It is home to China's two most prestigious universities, so academic jobs are available too.
Qingdao is a major port city in the north, famous as the home of Tsingtao beer and rated the most livable city in China.
Dalian in the northeast is a major port city with a favorable tax regime for IT companies.
Xiamen on the south coast has little heavy industry, low pollution, a lovely climate and a lot of expatriates. It is popular among the Taiwanese due to the fact that the same dialect is spoken there. It is a short ferry ride away from the Taiwan-controlled island of Kinmen.
Kunming is at a nearly tropical latitude but 2000 m altitude; the "city of eternal spring". A good base for exploring the mountains and cultures of Yunnan Province
Chengdu and Chongqing are among the fastest-growing cities in the inland parts of China, and home to a growing community of expatriates. Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan Province and Chongqing has close cultural ties; both cities are famous for spicy food and hot, humid summers.
Sanya in the south of Hainan island is a major domestic tourism destination, known for its tropical climate, luxury resorts, beaches and golf courses, and also regularly hosts the Miss World beauty pageant. Numerous opportunities for people working in event planning, marketing and tourism.

When considering a position, make sure you find out what part of the city it's in. Prefecture-level cities and municipalities are vast and typically include huge swaths of suburbs and countryside. It's easy to accept a job in a glamorous destination like Shanghai or Beijing, only to find out that you'll actually be working and living in some obscure suburb far from the city's well-known spots. Of course, if you want to practice your Chinese and get to know Chinese culture in a more authentic way, a lesser-known suburb might be just what you want—but either way, it's worth researching where exactly you'd be living before you take the job. See List of Chinese provinces and regions to orient yourself on China's administrative structure, which can be confusing for foreigners.

Salaries are higher in more urban and developed areas: for instance, teachers tend to earn more in the big "first-tier" cities (Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenzhen) than elsewhere, and more in downtown districts than in suburbs. Of course, the cost of living is also much higher in these places. Real estate prices in those cities are often as high as in major Western cities. If your goal is to save up as much money as possible and you don't particularly care where you're doing it, your best bet may be an off-the-beaten-path locale where costs are low and temptations to spend are limited.

Western food in China is often hardly recognisable compared to what expatriates may be used to back home, and you may need to head to Hong Kong in order to get your fix. See Western food in Asia for discussion. Be particularly careful if you have coeliac disease or any severe allergies; the availability of suitable diets decreases drastically outside the first-tier cities. Restaurants serving authentic Western cuisines can be found in the first-tier cities, but are usually extremely expensive by Chinese standards.

Should you want some home-cooked "comfort food", some ingredients may be hard to get. Western products are often only available in expensive specialist supermarkets that are mainly found in the first-tier cities. The typical Chinese supermarket — often all that is available in a lower-tier city — may carry some imported goods, but usually choice is limited and prices high.

If you're going to China with the aim of learning or practicing Mandarin, consider your destination carefully. You'll learn much faster if your coworkers and people on the street are speaking Mandarin to each other. This basically means a northern city (like Beijing, Harbin, or Xi'an) or a city with huge numbers of residents from different parts of the country (like Shanghai or Shenzhen). Be aware that migrant cities like Shenzhen will have a variety of nonstandard accents, which is good for improving your listening at a more advanced level, but might make it harder to improve your own pronunciation.

Internet censorship

Internet censorship is employed extensively in China; the Great Firewall exerts tight control. Most internationally popular social media websites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube are banned in China, as are messaging apps like Whatsapp, Google and most of its associated services such as Gmail, and many foreign news sites. Chinese alternatives to all these exist, though these run on separate systems, so in order to keep in touch with friends outside of China you'll probably want to use a VPN or other software to get around the firewall. See China#Connect for more details, and be aware that VPNs are not always reliable. These are not blocked in Hong Kong, Taiwan or Macau, so you may choose to live near the border so you can access these services in case of an emergency where your VPN is down.

Banking

Obtaining a Chinese bank account is convenient for long-term residents. It requires a passport with a valid visa and proof of residency. If you don't have a work visa, be careful: in mid-2018, some foreigners on business or tourist visas have reported problems withdrawing money from their accounts. Some banks may require other documentation such as proof of employment or foreign taxpayer status, and some may also require an initial deposit of around ¥100. Bank staff are typically unable to speak English, though some branches of the larger banks in major cities may have English-speaking staff available.

You may receive a bank book in which all transactions and balances are recorded, although most large banks will provide card only accounts. Depending on the bank, a PIN and/or ID may be required for withdrawals at the counter.

China imposes certain restrictions on the international transfer of Chinese yuan out of the country. The rules change frequently, although for the most part it places a limit on the amount you may transfer daily. Exchanging Chinese yuan to foreign currency is tightly controlled, and may not be possible for non-Chinese citizens at banks (go to a currency-exchange place instead). When leaving China and not planning to return, withdraw all the remaining money from your account in cash. As a non-Chinese citizen, you'll probably find yourself unable to use your bank card, WeChat, etc. to make purchases outside mainland China.

Banks usually charge a fee (around 1%) for depositing and withdrawing money in a different city than the one you opened your account in.

In Shanghai, most of the smaller local banks have relations with each other allowing for no-fee interbank deposits for any amount and withdrawals over ¥3,000. Also, any Bank of Shanghai deposit-capable ATM can do deposits for any bank with a Shanghai-issued account.

The largest retail banks in China are the Bank of China (中国银行), China Construction Bank (dead link: January 2023) (中国建设银行), Agricultural Bank of China (中国农业银行) and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (中国工商银行).

China Construction Bank offers Bank of America customers ATM-use without any fees to withdraw yuan. Bank of America now charges 3%, however.

Standard Chartered is expat-friendly, but has few branches outside the big cities. They offer unlimited interbank ATM withdrawals within the city the card was issued in as long as the amount drawn is over ¥2,000 each time and they also offer multiple foreign-currency investment products.

DBS has a minimum deposit requirement of ¥2,000.

Woori Bank has even fewer branches than Standard Chartered, but offers the Shanghai Tourist Card, which gives discounts at assorted restaurants and half-price tickets to various attractions, as a debit card. This is usually only available from local banks. They also offer unlimited free ATM withdrawals anywhere in China. As a South Korean bank they offer links to Korean bank accounts as well.

HSBC is another good international choice for expatriates, although branches are mostly found in the commercial centres of large cities. Customers who frequently spend time in Hong Kong will find this a quite good option.

If you are employed in China, you may not get a choice: many companies and schools deposit into only one bank, and therefore you must have an account with that bank to get paid.

If in a big city and later traveling to smaller ones, try signing up for an account with smaller banks like Woori Bank or Ping An Bank; these offer free inter-bank ATM withdrawals anywhere in China.

Electronic transfers

Just about every bank in the big cities offers electronic money transfers to another country. Service charges depend on the sending and receiving bank, the staff is sometimes ill-trained, and the process can take up to a week to clear. Alternatively, you may choose to look for a Chinese branch of a foreign or Hong Kong-based bank to do transfers. This is easier in the big cities, though.

It will be much easier to do transfers if you have an dual-currency account with the Bank of China - opened at the branch from which you plan to get your money. Electronic transfers to dual currency accounts incur no or minimal fees although it will usually take about one week. Transfers to Chinese accounts from overseas also take from three to ten business days. All you need to start an account is your passport, visa and a small initial deposit (can be yuan) plus the new-account fee (¥10-20). If you open a foreign currency account or a dual currency account, be sure to check if you will be able to access it in another province or overseas. Alternatively, for visitors from the US, Wells Fargo offers a service called ExpressSend that allows someone to send money from the US and have it arrive at a China Agricultural Bank account on the same day.

Western Union has deals with China Agricultural Bank and with China Post so there are many Western Union signs around. This is what overseas Chinese sending money to relatives, or expats sending money out of China, generally use; it is generally easier and cheaper than the banks. A list of locations is available through Western Union's website. There may, however, be problems. Their system may be down or the employee you deal with may ask for silly things — for an overseas transfer, the recipient's passport and visa numbers, or for a within-China transfer, cash in US dollars. Just try another branch when experiencing difficulties.

Foreign ownership restrictions

China has strict laws on foreign ownership of local businesses and property, with foreigners largely restricted to owning minority stakes in these. As such, it is generally very difficult for foreigners to invest in Chinese businesses without a Chinese business partner.

Language teaching

Finding a job

Websites listing English teaching jobs in China include AsiaTeaching (dead link: January 2023), Education First, Sea Dragon. See also Teaching English#Looking for work for more information and international websites.

Many English teachers in China choose to find work through an agent (中介 zhōngjiè), who will help you find a job, make sure things run smoothly, and might be able to help you with special issues like sending money to an overseas bank account instead of a bank account in China. The disadvantage is that the agent will take a fee, which can be in the ballpark of 15% of your salary. It is not uncommon to find a job through an agent, sign a six-month or one-year contract with them, and then, once the contract expires, sign a new contract directly with the employer to avoid paying the agent's fee.

Agents on the whole have a reputation for being unscrupulous and deceptive. They might lie to you about the job, applicable laws, and your visa, trick you into signing an unfair contract, or get you in serious trouble with illegal or bungled visa arrangements. In job postings, they don't always make clear that they're agents, so even if you're trying to apply to schools directly, you may still end up with an agent if you're not careful! Don't rely on your agent to look out for you—it's no skin off their back if you get deported, thrown in jail, or banned from China. You have to look out for yourself. (By the way, some people have a rather prejudiced idea that foreign agents working in China are more trustworthy than those from China. This is not so—dishonesty and manipulation have no nationality. You should be equally cautious regardless of where your agent is from.)

If you plan to work as a teacher in China, research very carefully. You might get your dream job or a nightmare. Take great care in your selection of employer; broken contracts, pressure to work illegally or lie about your qualifications, and general unscrupulousness and dishonesty are common. Many employers take advantage of foreign teachers' unfamiliarity with the Chinese language, culture, and legal system. Ask to talk to current employees, and look up the company to see what peole are saying about them online. As a rule, government schools' give the best all-around deals and are known for following the rules when arranging visas—and if there is any dispute, you can appeal to the Foreign Experts Office of the provincial education ministry. If you can document your case and it is a valid one, they will take action. And it tends to be fast. Before filing an appeal, try to resolve the issue through direct discussion. If that fails, ask someone to function as a go-between—a Chinese if possible, but otherwise another expatriate will do. Only appeal as a last resort: as in other aspects of life everywhere, the threat of action is often more effective than action itself.

Before taking the job, make sure the company is legally registered. You can request their business license number and a scan of the business license, then verify the number online. If the company isn't legally registered, they won't be able to get you a work visa, at least not legally.

Read the job description and contract carefully. Pay attention to both the number of teaching hours and the total number of working hours. Make sure you're clear on whether you're expected to cover your own housing, utilities, transportation, flights, and so on. Ask to talk to current employees to see how the company treats them.

Visas for English teachers

There can be difficulties around Foreign Expert Certificates for teachers. Universities and other public institutions can easily get FECs for staff, but not all private schools can. Before they can even apply for certificates, they must be authorised to employ foreigners by SAFEA. Getting the authorization takes many months and a significant amount of money. They also have to comply with SAFEA standards such as providing housing, health insurance and annual airfare home for all staff. Large established schools have the permission, but many of the smaller ones don't want the expense. Without the FEC you cannot get a Residence Permit so all the teachers in such schools are working illegally.

In terms of work visas, schools range from completely reliable to crooks who leave foreigners stranded without a legitimate work visa after they arrive. Legally, foreign teachers are required to come on a Z visa and then apply for a residence permit. It is illegal to work with a tourist or business visa, but some schools want teachers to do that, and some even want teachers to foot the bill for "visa runs" to Hong Kong to renew it. Some even lie to teachers about this when recruiting. Other schools or agents pull a trick where they get you a work visa for some other type of work like management or e-commerce (reportedly easier to obtain than a work visa for English teaching). This is illegal too: your paperwork has to match the job you're actually doing.

Getting a Z visa for an English teacher is a complicated, time-consuming, and potentially expensive process involving paperwork from many different offices. Your employer should help you through the process. The rules change frequently and depend on your nationality; your employer should have more specific and up-to-date information, but take this as a general indication of the kind of rigmarole you have to go through. First, you'll need to apply for a work permit, which requires the following documents: a physical examination form filled out by a physician, a teaching certificate, a passport-sized photo, an employment contract, a stamped letter from your previous employer, a copy of your passport, a work permit application form, a copy of your university diploma, and a criminal record background check. The last two documents must be notarized with an apostille and then certified at a Chinese embassy or consulate. Depending on your nationality, you may also need to provide proof of English language ability. Once you send all these documents to your employer, they can get you a work permit. Then you can go to a Chinese embassy or consulate and apply for a Z visa, for which you'll have to submit your work permit, passport, copies of any previous Chinese visas, a visa application form, and a visa fee. When you get the Z visa, you're still not done with the paperwork—the duration of stay on your visa will be listed as "000" (undetermined), with a note that you must apply for a residence permit within 30 days of arrival. Make sure you bring all the documents you used for your work permit application with you to China, because you'll need them to apply for your residence permit, which may also require another physical examination by a doctor in China.

Once you've obtained your residence permit, you can breathe a sigh of relief: now you can legally live and work in China, and enter and exit the country at will. At least until your residence permit expires in a year, at which point you'll have to renew it if you want to continue working in China. Fortunately, the renewal process is relatively painless—since you've already obtained most of the documents you need, you just have to go to a few of the same offices in the city where you're working in order to apply to a stay for another year. Your employer should guide you through the process, and you don't have to return to your home country to do it.

Given all the hassle involved in getting a work visa, many teachers instead work illegally on tourist or business visas. Some employers encourage or demand this, because it's cheaper and less of a headache for them. Some employees opt for it because they're ineligible for a work visa (for instance, non-native English speakers and teachers without a bachelor's degree). This is a lot easier than getting a Z visa, but it requires a visa run to a place like Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, or Mongolia, typically every three months, so you can leave and reenter mainland China and get a new stamp in your passport. Working illegally carries a risk of being found out by the authorities and being arrested and deported as a convicted felon. The other workaround, getting a work visa for a different type of job, may allow you to open a bank account, but it is still illegal and puts you at risk of fines, detention, and deportation. Some of the employers who want you to come illegally on the wrong type of visa are stringing you along; they do not have SAFEA permission to hire foreigners legally and are trying to wriggle around that. The Chinese government is stepping up enforcement of immigration laws, so as a foreigner, you are strongly advised not to work illegally in China.

Some employers ask teachers to come in with a tourist or business visa and promise that they can get a residence permit later. Some teachers have had success with this, even as recently as 2019, but others have gotten into serious trouble attempting it. The complicated paperwork required from your home country means it's easy for something to go wrong, and you're at risk of getting caught before the residence permit application goes through. Best not to risk it.

If the school doesn't require teachers to have a university degree, this is a red flag. Foreigners can't get a work permit without having at least a bachelor's degree, so these schools are either having teachers work without proper papers or obtaining work permits fraudulently. Even if you do have a degree, working at one of these schools may mean that they won't be able to get you a work permit or at least that they might bend the rules in some way when they're getting it. Foreigners with these fraudulently obtained work permits have been detained or deported, so you are highly advised not to take up such job offers.

A few issues to be careful of regarding work permits:

A work permit only allows you to work for the employer that got it for you. Taking other jobs on the side is illegal and foreign teachers have been arrested for it.
If you decide to change jobs, make sure your new employer arranges to transfer your work permit.
If you decide to leave your job and stop working in China, make sure you tell your employer and do the proper paperwork. If you go AWOL, you may encounter problems with the authorities when trying to leave China later on.

Other professions

There are opportunities in the main cities for professionals with backgrounds in areas such as finance, engineering, or information technology. There are also some for teachers other than language teachers.

Generally speaking you will need to be sponsored by a company in China that has a certificate to hire foreigners. There is significant paperwork involved around your Z visa as well as taxes, and it is advisable that your company send their FAO or use an agency to take care of these on your behalf. If you have do paperwork by yourself then you will find it very difficult and time consuming, even if you can read Chinese.

In previous years, companies were happy to fly in expatriate managers in order to develop their Chinese operations, although for both cost and cultural reasons there is now definitely a stronger preference for hiring workers and management locally. The cost of relocating and paying a foreigner is very high compared to the local workforce and companies will look for unique capabilities that you can bring, rather than generic 'middle managers'.

Opportunities for expatriates are usually far greater at multi-national companies with a significant China office than in local Chinese companies.

Many expatriates who wish to work in China actually base themselves in Hong Kong, owing to having a simpler immigration process, easier living conditions for foreigners, low taxes and ready access to the Chinese mainland.

"White monkey jobs"

While the legality of this is questionable, some foreigners take on so-called "white monkey jobs" while in China. In such jobs, companies pay white people to do essentially nothing but show up at company events such as promotional events and business meetings and pretend to be one of the company's staff members, as the presence of a white person/foreign face will boost their company's legitimacy in the eyes of the Chinese public. Thus, companies that appear to have white people among their staff tend to enjoy better business and win government contracts more easily.

Be cautious as this kind of job is in a gray area where legitimacy is sparse, pay is low, and risks are rising. Remember that a work visa is tied to a specific company in a specific city, and it is generally illegal to take on a side job—something that foreigners have been arrested for, despite having a work visa. It is also illegal to do a different kind of work from what you and your employer stated in your visa application. The Chinese government has been stepping up enforcement of employment laws, and companies may not be up-front about (or even know) whether they're following the rules, so consider carefully whether this type of work is worth the risk.

Modeling

White foreigners are always in demand in the Chinese media. A stroll through any shopping mall will confirm how many Chinese products use white faces for their domestic promotional campaigns. In many of the big coastal cities, these jobs are dominated by groups of Russian models who do this as a full-time job. Even so, there are always agents looking for new faces. Look on websites and notice boards for announcements. Payments start out in the region of ¥500 per day plus expenses but can often rise to much more. Blonde haired, blue eyed, white skinned females, older gentlemen and babies are especially in demand, and black males are also in demand for sportswear advertising. Be cautious as those kinds of jobs are in a gray area where legitimacy is sparse, pay is low and risks are rising.

Wedding officiant

Everywhere you go in China, you will see wedding photo shops. Some of these hire white guys to play the role of wedding priest at big parties and photo shoots. This usually requires a decent level of Chinese to recite the wedding vow speech in Mandarin, but payments of ¥1000 per ceremony are quite standard. For full scripts and further details, see the book Is Nothing Sacred? Making Money as a Wedding Priest in China.

University applications

Also known as "education consulting", in some ways this is a variation of English teaching. Many children of elite and well-off Chinese parents are looking to attend top universities abroad, particularly those in the United States, and their parents are willing to pay top dollar for admissions counseling, essay help, test prep, and so on. The institutions that offer these services are keen to hire graduates from highly-ranked foreign universities and pay salaries similar to the middle to upper range for English teachers. These jobs are concentrated in "first-tier" cities (Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenzhen). During the application season (October–January), it's hard work and you'll be busy, but for the rest of the year it's much more relaxed.

Be warned: ethical standards in this industry are not consistent. Some companies won't just want you to help students with the essays, but actually write the essays for them. The company won't necessarily tell you this outright when you're applying. Look out for red flags before taking a job.

Import/export opportunities

Nearly every Chinese location has local specialties that can be exported on a small scale to make some extra pocket money. Many towns specialise in manufacturing a single product and some of the more entrepreneurial expat teachers earn a nice little side income by leveraging this opportunity. This is especially easy in big cities such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen where international trade is the backbone of the local economy. Armed with a reliable guidebook to the wholesale markets, any teacher can quickly find a niche product upon which to focus, develop some local contacts and begin shipping to a partner back home. If you choose the right products and suppliers this can often develop into a full time business.

Scientific research

The government is keen to boost China's international profile in scientific research, and is investing heavily in making China's universities and research institutes competitive with those in the West. There are many opportunities for people with a PhD in scientific fields from the world's top universities to work in China, and the pay is usually competitive with, and sometimes even higher than what is on offer in the West, particularly if you have a good publication record.

Tech jobs

Under U.S. regulations, U.S. citizens and permanent residents require a license from the U.S. government to work in certain jobs related to the Chinese semiconductor industry. Violation of this law could lead to prosecution when you return to the U.S., and could also lead to the cancellation of your green card.

China has a booming tech industry, and there are opportunities for people with university degrees in computer science and engineering to work for Chinese tech companies such as Huawei, Xiaomi, Tencent and Alibaba. As the "Silicon Valley of China", most of the tech jobs are concentrated in the city of Shenzhen, though there are also opportunities in other first-tier cities, and increasingly in the smaller cities as well.

Outside mainland China

Since the requirements to work in Mainland China are quite difficult, you could also consider working in other Chinese territories such as Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan that have completely separate and more relaxed conditions of entry. These places are also easier to work in the English language, with the Hong Kong government and legal system using English in addition to Chinese. Their cultures are also more Westernised than that of mainland China, making it somewhat easier for Western foreigners to adapt to the local cultures.

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