[Issued by] Ministry of Labour
[Issued on] January 22, 1996
[Keywords] Rules for the Administration of Employment of Foreigners in China
[Effectiveness] Effective
[Remarks]
[Body]

Rules for the Administration of Employment of Foreigners in China


Chapter 1 General Provisions

Article 1 The Rules is formulated as per the applicable laws and regulations to enhance the control over employment of foreigners in China.

Article 2 The foreigners herein refer to the persons without a Chinese nationality as per the Nationality Law of the People’s Republic of China.

Article 3 The Rules is applicable for the foreigners obtaining employment within China and the employers employing foreigners, and is not applicable for the persons having diplomatic privileges in foreign embassies and consulates stationing in China, and/or the UN representative organization stationing in China, and /or other international organizations.

Article 4 The labour administration departments of the people’s governments of all the provinces, autonomous regions and the municipalities directly under the central government, and the prefecture-level city labour administrations shall take charge of managing employment of foreigners in China. 


Chapter 2  Employment permit

Article 5 The employers intending to employ a foreigner must apply for the employment permit for the associated foreigner, and acquire the Permit for Foreigners Employment of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Permit) before the employment.

Article 6 The posts provided to foreigners by employers must be the types requiring something special, cannot be qualified with by domestic people temporarily, and do not breach the applicable law of China.  Employers must not employ any foreigner except those specified under (iii) of Article 9 herein for commercial artistic performance. 

Article 7 The following requirements must be met for foreigners to obtain employment in China:
    (i)  18 full years old or older, and good health;
    (ii) The professional skills and associated working experience for the job to be done;
    (iii) No criminal records;
    (iv) A specific employer;
    (v) A valid passport or other international travel certificate that may replace the valid passport (hereinafter referred to as the certificate replacing the passport).

Article 8 The foreigners intending to obtain employment in China shall enter China by their vocational visas (in case a visa exemption agreement is applicable, the agreement shall prevail), and shall acquire the Permit for Foreigners Employment (hereinafter referred to as the Employment Permit) and the Resident Permit for Foreigner before obtaining employment in China.
    The accompanying family members of the foreigners without the Resident Permit for Foreigner (namely the holders of F, L, C and G visas), those studying in China and foreign interns in China, and those with a vocational visa must not obtain employment in China. In a special case, the employer shall apply for the Permit as per the approval procedures herein, and the foreigner to be employed shall go to the public security bureau to change his identity and apply for and acquire the employment permit by virtue of the Permit before the employment.
    If the spouse of the works in the foreign embassies and consulates stationing in China, the UN representative system and other representative international organizations stationing in China obtain employment in China, the Provisions on Employment in China of the Spouse of the Workers of Foreign Embassies and Consulates and the Representative Organizations of UN System Organizations Stationing in China shall be applicable, and the approval and procedures in (ii) of the present article shall be applicable. 
    All the Permits and Employment Permits shall be made by the competent labour department.

Article 9 The foreigners meeting any one of the following requirements may be exempted from applying for the employment permit and employment certificate;
    (i) The professional foreign technicians and managers who are directly employed by our government, or by some government organs and institutions, hold a senior technical title or special skill qualification confirmed by the associated countries or an authoritative international technical management department or trade association, and hold a Foreigner Expert Certificate issued by the Bureau of the foreign experts of the associated country.
    (ii) The foreign labors that hold special skills and the Permit for Offshore Petroleum Operation by Foreigners in the People’s Republic of China for offshore Petroleum Operation, and need not to go ashore. 
    (iii)The foreigners holding a Temporary Commercial Performance Permit approved by the Ministry of Culture to perform commercial artistic performance.

Article 10 The foreigners meeting any one of the following requirements may be exempted from applying for the Permit, and may directly apply for the Employment Permit by virtue of their vocation visas and related certificates after they enter China:
    (i) The foreigners that are employed to perform the Sino-foreign cooperation and exchange projects as per the agreement and treaty by and between China and the foreign government, and/or international organization.
    (ii) The chief representative and representatives of the resident representative offices of foreign enterprises.


Chapter 3 Application and approval

Article 11 The employers intending to employ foreigners must fill the Application Form for Employing Foreigner (hereinafter referred to as the Application Form) , to apply for employing foreigner(s) to the competent trade administration with the level equivalent to the competent labour administration (hereinafter referred to as the Competent Administration), with the following valid documents submitted;
    (i) The resume certificate of the foreign to be employed;
    (ii) Employment intent;
    (iii) Report of the reasons for employing the foreigner;
    (vi) Certification for the qualifications of the foreigner to be employed for carrying on the associated occupation;
    (v) Certification of health of the employer to be employed;
    (vi) The other documents required by the applicable laws and regulations.
    The competent trade administration shall check and approve the applications as per Article 6 and 7 herein and the applicable laws and regulations.

Article 12 After the approval by the competent trade administration, the employer shall carry the Application Form to the local labour administration of the province, autonomous and municipality directly under the central government where the employer exists, or the authorized prefecture-level labour administration to go through the approval procedures.  The local labour administration of the  province, autonomous and municipality directly under the central government, or the authorized prefecture-level labour administration shall appoint a special authority (hereinafter referred to as the permit-issuing authority) to take charge of specific signature and issuing permit, and permit-issuing authority shall check and approve the applications as per the views of the competent trade administration and the demands of the labor market, and issue the Permit to the employer after approval.  

Article 13. The central-level employers without a competent trade administration intending to employ foreigner(s) may go to the certificate-issuing authority of the labor administration directly to apply for employing foreigner(s) and go through employment procedures.
    The foreign-funded enterprises intending to employ foreigner(s) may directly go to the certificate-issuing authority of the labor administration to apply for and acquire the Permit by virtue of the contract, constitutions, approval certificate, business license and the documents under Article 11 herein, without acquiring approval from the competent trade administration.

Article 14. The organizations allowed to employ foreigner (s) must not issue the Permit directly to the foreigner (s) to be employed, and the working visa notice and the Permit shall be issued to the foreigner (s) to be employed by the authorized organization.

Article 15 The foreigners permitted to come to China for employment shall carry their Permits issued by the labor administration, the notice from the authorized organization, the valid passport from their own countries, or the certificate that may replace the passport, to the Chinese embassy and consulate stationing in the associated country, to apply for the vocational visa. 
The persons meeting the requirements under (i) of Article 9 herein shall apply for their vocational visas by virtue of the notice from the authorized organization. The persons meeting the requirements under (ii) of Article 9 herein shall apply for their vocational visas by virtue of the notice signed and issued by China National Offshore Oil Corp. The persons meeting the requirements under (iii) of Article 9 herein shall apply for their vocational visas by virtue of the notice from the foreign affairs office of the people’s government of the associated provinces, autonomous regions, and the municipalities directly under the central government and the approval document from the Ministry of Culture (these documents are directly issued to the associated embassies, consulates and offices stationing in the associated country).
    The persons meeting the requirements under (i) of Article 10 herein shall apply for their vocational visas by virtue of their notices from the authorized organization and cooperative and exchange project plans; the persons meeting the requirements under (ii) of Article 10 herein shall apply for their vocational visas by virtue of their notices from the authorized organization and registration certification from the competent administration of industry and commerce.
Article 16 Within 15 days after the foreigner (s) to be employed reached China, the employer shall carry the Permit, the contract by and between the employer and the foreigner (s) to be employed, and the foreigner(s)’s valid passport or the certificate that may replace the passport to the original certificate-issuing authority to apply for employment permit on behalf of the foreigner (s), and fill the Registration Form for Foreigner Employment.
    The employment shall be effective only within the areas specified by the certificate-issuing authority.

Article 17 The foreigners that have acquired the employment permit shall carry the employment permit to the public security bureau to apply for a resident permit within 30 days after reaching China. The valid period of the resident permit may be specified as per the valid period of the employment permit.


Chapter 4 Labor management

Article 18 The employer and the foreigner employed shall conclude a labor contract as per the applicable law. The period of the labor contract must not exceed 5 years at most. The labor contract shall terminate upon the expiration，but may be renewed after performing the approval procedures as per the specifications in Article 1 herein.

Article 19 Upon the labor contract by and between the employed foreigner and the employer expires, the employment permit of the foreigner shall become invalid. If a renewal is needed, the employer shall apply to the labor administration for renewal within 30 days before the original contract expires, and shall go through the employment renewal procedures after approval.

Article 20 If an employer is permitted to prolong his employment period or change his employment region or employer in China, he shall go to the local public security bureau to go through the resident permit renewal or change procedures within 10 days. 

Article 21 After the labor between an employed foreigner and the employer is cancelled, the employer shall timely report the cancellation to the labor administration and public security bureau, return the employment permit and resident permit of the foreigner, and go through the exit procedures in the public security bureau. 

Article 22 The wage for the employed foreigner by the employer must not be less than the local minimum wage standard.

Article 23 The working houses, vocations, rest, labour safety and hygiene as well as the social insurance of the foreigners employed in China shall be subjected to the applicable regulations of China. 

Article 24 The employer employing foreigner (s) in China must be consistent with the employer shown by the employment permit of the foreigner (s).
    The foreigners changing their employers within the region specified by the certificate-issuing authority and engaging in their original occupation must get approval from the certificate-issuing authority and go through the employment permit change procedures in advance.
    The foreigners leaving the region specified by the certificate-issuing authority to obtain employment, or changing their employers and taking a different occupation within the original region specified by the certificate-issuing authority must replace their employment permits in advance. 

Article 25 The employer of the foreigner whose resident permit is cancelled by a competent Chinese public security bureau due to breach of Chinese law shall cancel the labor contract by and between the employer and the foreigner, and the labor administration shall cancel the employment permit.

Article 26 The dispute between an employer and the employed foreigner shall be handled as per the Labour Law of the People’s Republic of China and the Rules for Settling Labor-Employer Disputes in Enterprises of the People’s Republic of China. 

Article 27 The labor administration shall inspect employment permits annually. Within 30 days before expiration of every employment year, the employer shall go to the certificate-issuing authority of the labor administration to go through the employment permit annual inspection procedures on behalf of the employed foreigner. The employment permit shall automatically become invalid if the employer fails to do so. 
    The foreigners losing or damaging their employment permits shall immediately go to the original certificate-issuing authority to report the loss and replace the employment permits.


Chapter 5 Penalty 

Article 28 The foreigners obtaining employment without applying for and acquiring the employment permit as per the stipulations herein and the employers employing foreigner (s) without applying for and acquiring the Permit shall be punished by the public security bureau as per Article 44 of the Details for Implementation of Law on Managing Foreigner Entry and Exit of the People’s Republic of China. 

Article 29 The employment permits of the foreigners that refuse the inspection of employment permit by the labor administration, change their employers and occupations and prolong their employment period without report and application shall be called back by the labor administration and shall require the competent public security bureau to cancel their resident permits. In case of deportation, the deportation fee shall be at the employer’s or the associated foreigner’s cost. 

Article 30 If foreigners and employers forge, modify, illegally use, transfer, buy and sell employment permit and the Permit, the employment permit and the Permit shall be confiscated, and the foreigners and the employers shall be imposed with a penalty more than RMB 10,000 yuan and less than RMB 100,000 yuan. If the case is serious and constitutes a crime, the foreigners and the employers shall be sent to the judicial office to give them criminal sanctions as per the applicable law. 

Article 31 The certificate-issuing authority or workers of the associated department that misuse their authorities, illegally ask  for charges, commit illegalities for personal gains shall be given criminal sanctions as per the applicable law if such behaviors constitute a crime, or shall be given administrative sanctions if such behaviors do not constitute a crime.  


Chapter 6

Article 32 The employment of the residents from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao of China in the mainland shall be subjected to the Provisions on the Administration of the Employment of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Residents in the Mainland.

Article 33 The Rules is not applicable for the employment of foreigners in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao of China.

Article 34 No individual economic organization and individual citizen is allowed to employ any foreigner.

Article 35 The labor administrations of the provinces, the autonomous regions, and the municipalities directly under the central government may formulate their local details for implementation of the Rules jointly with respective public security bureaus according to the Rules, and shall report their local details for implementation to the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation for reference.  

Article 36 The Rules shall be interpreted by the Ministry of Labour.

Article 37 The Rules shall be implemented since May 1, 1996. Upon the implementation of the Rules, the Provisions on Employment of the Foreigners without Resident Permit and Those Studying in China issued on Oct.5, 1987 shall be cancelled.