Working in China: permits, jobs and the honest version

The old site ran a jobs board — employer listings, job alerts, the lot. The board is gone, but the questions in its inbox never changed: how do I work legally, what jobs actually exist for foreigners, and how do I avoid the scams? Here are those answers.

The work-permit system in one section

China scores foreign workers into tiers: A (high-end talent — senior researchers, executives, special skills: easiest approvals), B (professionals — the typical degree-holder with two years' experience, or teachers with a degree plus certification), C (temporary/seasonal). The realistic path for most people is B, and it runs:

Employer obtains the work-permit notification (they apply, not you — a job offer comes first, always).
You gather the documents: apostilled degree and criminal-record check (see the notarization guide), medical form, CV, photos.
Z visa from the Chinese embassy with the notification letter.
Within 30 days of arrival: work permit card, then residence permit.

Where the jobs actually are

Teaching English — still the volume market. Legal requirements: bachelor's degree, clean record, usually a TEFL/CELTA certificate, and the school must be licensed to hire foreigners — ask to see another foreign teacher's permit.
Universities — lecturer posts in English-taught programs; lighter pay, generous housing and holidays.
Trade and sourcing — bilingual traders, QC inspectors and sourcing agents around Guangzhou, Yiwu and the manufacturing belts; the natural progression for people who started as buyers (see the sourcing guide).
Tech and engineering — real but concentrated in Shenzhen, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and increasingly hired through formal A/B-tier channels.

The scams, so you recognize them

"Work on a business/tourist visa while we sort the permit" — the classic. The fines and deportation land on you, not the school. A legitimate employer completes the permit before you start.
Agencies charging you for the job — employers pay recruiters in China; a "placement fee" charged to the worker is a flag.
Passport held "for processing" — permits never require anyone to keep your passport overnight beyond official processing windows.

If you are the one hiring

The old board had a whole employer side — listings, packages, a dashboard of saved candidates and meetings. Those pages are gone and the candidate database with them, so there is nobody here to contact. The mechanics of hiring a foreign national are the part worth keeping, because they are the half of the permit process that the employer owns:

The employer applies, not the candidate. A legally registered Chinese entity files for the Work Permit Notification through the government's Service System for Foreigners Working in China. Until that notification exists, your candidate cannot get a Z visa, and anything they are told to "start on" instead is illegal work.
Your own paperwork is checked too — business licence, registered scope, and in most cases a clean record on previous foreign hires. A company that has never hired a foreigner should expect to be asked for more, not less.
The tier score is mostly fixed before you advertise. Degree, years of experience, salary and age feed the A/B/C scoring above. If a role cannot clear B on paper, re-writing the job ad will not fix it — the scoring is on the person.
Write a proper labour contract. Chinese labour law requires a written contract, caps probation by contract length, and generally expects social-insurance contributions for foreign employees as well. "We'll sort the contract later" creates your liability, not theirs.
Employing without a permit is the employer's offence. Penalties fall on the company per illegally employed person, alongside the worker's own fine and possible deportation — which is why the "start now, permit later" offer in the scams list above is also a bad deal for the business making it.

Rules and thresholds here move, and they vary by city — Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen all run their own variations on top of the national system. Confirm the current requirements with the local foreign-expert or human-resources bureau for the city the contract will sit in, before you make an offer.

Day-to-day life questions — registration, housing, money — live in the Living in China guide.