Laws of the People's Republic of China

Chapter I

General Provisions

Article 1: These Regulations are hereby formulated in accordance with stipulations in relevant laws and regulations to enhance the management of the employment of foreigners in China.

Article 2: The foreigners as referred to in these Regulations refer to persons who do not have Chinese nationality as stipulated in the Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China.

The employment of foreigners in China as used in these Regulations refers to the behavior of engaging in social labor and receiving remuneration in accordance with the law by foreigners who have not obtained permits to reside in China.

Article 3: These Regulations are applicable to foreigners working inside China and units employing foreigners.

These regulations are not applicable to persons enjoying diplomatic privileges and immunity, such as those working in foreign embassies and consulates in China, UN representative offices in China and other international organizations stationed in China.

Article 4: The labor administrations under the people's governments at the provincial, autonomous regional and municipal level and those authorized at the prefectural level shall take charge of managing the employment of foreigners in China.

Chapter 11

Employment Permission

Article 5: Units that employ foreigners shall apply for permission to employ these foreigners and shall employ foreigners only after obtaining Certificates of the People's Republic of China Permitting the Employment of Foreigners (hereinafter referred to as certificates of permission).

Article 6: The positions that employing units decide to fill with foreigners shall be those of a special need and which cannot be filled by domestic candidates for the time being. Moreover, no relevant state regulations shall be violated in the meantime.

No units shall employ foreigners to engage in commercial cultural performance, except for those conforming with the stipulations of Clause 3 of Article 9 of the Regulations.

Article 7: Foreigners seeking employment in China should meet the following qualifications:

1.    Having reached the age of 18 and be in good health;

2. Possessing the professional skills needed as well as corresponding work experience for the position to be filled;

3. Not having a criminal record;

4. Having a specific employer unit;

5. Possessing valid passports or other international travel documents that can replace passports (hereinafter referred to as passport substitutes).

Article 8: Foreigners seeking employment in China shall enter China on the strength of occupational visas (or in line with agreements on the mutual exemption of the need for visas if such agreements have been reached) and can be employed only after obtaining Employment Certificates for Foreigners (hereinafter referred to employment certificates) and residential documents for foreigners.

Foreigners who have not obtained residential documents (namely, those holding F, L, C, and G visas), foreigners studying or doing field work in China, and the dependents of foreigners holding occupational visas shall not be employed in China. In special cases, employing units shall apply for certificates of permission according to the examination and approval procedures stipulated in these Regulations, and the foreigners to be employed shall register their changed status with public security departments on the strength of these certificates of permission, and obtain employment certificates and residential documents before they become employed.

The employment of the spouses of the persons in foreign embassies and consulates, in LIN organizations, and in the representative offices of other international organizations in China shall be handled according to the Regulations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China on the Employment of the Spouses of the Persons Working in Foreign Embassies, Foreign Consulates and UN Organizations in China, with the relevant proceedings to be completed in line with the examination and approval procedures stipulated in paragraph 2 of this Article.

Certificates of permission and employment certificates shall be prepared by the Ministry of Labor in a unified manner.

Article 9: Foreigners meeting one of the following qualifications can be exempted from certificates of permission and employment certificates:

1. Foreign experts and management personnel engaged with funds coming directly from the central government or with funds from state organs or institutional units; foreign experts and management personnel with senior professional titles or certification of special skills acknowledged by authoritative technical management departments or trade associations of their home countries or international organizations; and foreigners possessing certificates of foreign expertise issued by the Administration of Foreign Experts.

2. Foreign laborers with Permits for Foreigners To Engage in Offshore Oil Operations in the People's Republic of China who are engaged in offshore oil operations and who do not have the need to arrive on land, and who have special skills.

3. Foreigners putting on commercial art performances on the strength of Permits for Temporary Commercial Art Performances as approved by the Ministry of Culture.

Article 10: Foreigners meeting any of the following qualifications can be exempted from obtaining certificates of permission and can apply directly, upon their entry into China, for employment permits on the strength of occupational visas and other relevant certificates:

es:

1. Foreigners who are employed to work in China according to agreements and protocols signed between China and foreign governments or international organizations, or who are employed to implement Sino‑foreign cooperative projects or exchange projects.

2. Chief representatives and representatives of the residential offices of foreign enterprises in China.

Chapter III

Application and Examination and Approval

Article 11: Units employing foreigners shall fill out an Application To Employ Foreigners (hereinafter referred to as the application), file applications with departments in charge of their respective trades at the same level of departments in charge of their labor management (hereinafter referred to as departments in charge of respective trades) and present the following valid documents:

1. A resume of the foreigners to be employed;

2. A letter of employment intent;

3. An explanation of reasons for the employment;

4. Certificates qualifying the foreigners for the work;

5. Health certificates of the foreigners to be employed;

6. Other documents required by the law and by regulations.

Departments in charge of respective trades shall carry out an examination and give approval in line with the stipulations of Article 6 and Article 7 of these Regulations and other relevant laws and regulations.

Article 12: After approval by the departments in charge of respective trades, employer units shall complete verification procedures with labor administrations at the provincial, autonomous regional and municipal level or with authorized labor administrations at the prefectural level at their locations, carrying with them the application forms. Labor administrations at the provincial, autonomous regional and municipal level or authorized labor administrations at the prefectural level shall appoint special organs (hereinafter referred to as certificate‑issuing departments) to take specific charge of the work of the signing and issuance of certificates. Certificate issuers shall carry out their verification according to the opinions put forward by departments in charge of respective trades and according to the labor market's state of supply and demand, and shall issue certificates of permission to the employer units after completing verification.

Article 13: Employer units at the central level and those not affiliated with any department in charge of respective trades may, if they want to employ foreigners, file applications directly and complete employment‑permission procedures with the certificate‑issuing departments of labor administrations.

Foreign‑invested enterprises hoping to employ foreigners do not need to ask for examination and approval from departments in charge of respective trades. They may apply for and obtain certificates of permission directly from the certificate‑issuing departments of labor administrations on the strength of their contracts, articles of association, certificates of approval, business licenses and the documents specified in Article 11 of these regulations.

Article 14: The employer units that have obtained approval to employ foreigners shall not directly issue certificates of permission to the foreigners to be employed. The authorized units instead shall issue visa notices and certificates of permission to the foreigners to be employed.

Article IS: The foreigners who have obtained approval to work in China shall apply for occupational Visas at Chinese embassies or consulates on the strength of the certificates of permission issued by the Chinese Ministry of Labor, the notices issued by authorized units, valid passports issued by their own countries or documents that can substitute for passports.

Those foreigners conforming with the conditions specified in Clause 1 of Article 9 of these Regulations shall apply for occupation visas on the strength of the notices sent by authorized units, those conforming with the conditions specified in Clause 2 of Article 9 of these Regulations shall apply for occupational visas on the strength of the notices issued by the China Offshore Oil Corporation, and those conforming with the conditions specified in Clause 3 of Article 9 of these Regulations shall apply for occupational visas on the strength of the notices issued by the foreign affairs offices of the people's governments of relevant provinces, autonomous regions or municipalities directly under the central government and on the strength of the documents of approval issued by the Ministry of Culture (both will be given directly to Chinese embassies or consulates in the countries concerned).

Those foreigners conforming with the conditions in Clause 1 of Article 10 of these Regulations shall apply for occupational Visas on the strength of the notices issued by authorized units and letters of projects of cooperation and exchange; those conforming with the conditions specified in Clause 2 of Article 10 of these Regulations shall apply for occupational visas on the strength of the notices issued by authorized units and certificates of registration issued by administrations for industry and commerce.

Article 16: Employer units shall, within 15 days of the entry of the foreigners they employ, apply to the original certificate‑issuing departments for certificates of employment for these foreigners and fill out the Forms of Registration of the Employment of Foreigners on the strength of the certificates of permission, the labor contracts they have signed with these foreigners, the valid passports of these foreigners, or documents that can substitute for passports.

Article 17: Foreigners who have received certificates of employment shall, within 30 days after entry, apply for and obtain residence cards from public security departments on the strength of their certificates of employment. The residence cards' term of validity can be determined according to the term of validity of the certificates of employment.

Chapter IV

Labor Management

Article IS: Employer units and the foreigners employed shall sign labor contracts in accordance with the law. The term of labor contracts shall not be more than five years at the most. Labor contracts shall terminate on the expiration of their terms, although they can be renewed after completing procedures of examination and approval as stipulated in Article 19 of these Regulations.

Article 19: The certificates of employment of foreigners shall become invalid on the expiration of the labor contracts they sign with employer units. If both parties wish to extend the contracts, the employer unit shall apply, within 30 days of the termination of the original labor contracts, to labor administrations to extend the employment and shall complete, if approved, procedures for extending the term of the certificates of employment.

Article 20: Foreigners who have extended their term of employment in China or changed their location of employment or their employers, shall complete alteration procedures with local public security departments within 10 days of such changes.

Article 21: After the termination of labor contracts between the employed foreigners and the employer units, the employer units shall make timely reports to labor and public security departments, return the certificates of employment and residence cards of the foreigners and complete exit procedures with public security departments.

Article 22: Employer units shall not pay the foreigners they employ wages lower than the local minimum wage standards.

Article 23: The working hours, vacation days, holidays, labor safety and sanitation, and social insurance for foreigners employed in China shall be handled in line with relevant state regulations.

Article 24: The employer units with which the foreigners work in China shall be the one and same as specified in the certificates of employment.

Foreigners who change employers within the location designated by the certificate‑issuing departments but who still engage in the same occupation shall request approval from the original certificate‑issuing departments and complete the change‑of‑employment procedures.

Foreigners who get jobs beyond the area designated by the certificate‑issuing departments or who change their employer within the area designated by the certificate‑issuing departments but engage in different occupations shall complete anew the employment‑permission procedures.

Article 25: Employer units must terminate their labor contracts with foreigners who have been deprived by Chinese public security departments of the right to reside in China because of the violation of Chinese laws, and labor departments shall revoke the employment certificates of these foreigners.

Article 26: Should any labor dispute arise between employer units and employed foreigners, these disputes shall be handled in line with the Labor Law of the People's Republic of China and the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Settlement of Labor Disputes in Enterprises.

Article 27: Labor administrations shall carry out annual checks of certificates of employment. Within 30 days of the conclusion of each full year of employment of foreigners, the employer units shall complete the procedures with the certificate‑issuing departments of labor administration for the annual check of employment certificates on behalf of the foreigners they employ. Certificates of employment shall become automatically invalid should employer units fail to complete these procedures within the prescribed time.

Foreigners who lose or damage their certificates of employment while working in China shall report this to the original certificate‑ issuing departments and complete the procedures for receiving new certificates.

Chapter V

Rules on Punishment

Article 28: Foreigners who become employed without obtaining certificates of employment and employer units that employ foreigners without obtaining certificates of permission shall be handled by public security departments in line with Article 44 of the Implementation Rules of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Management of the Entry and Exit of Foreigners.

Article 29: Labor administrations shall revoke the certificates of employment of foreigners who refuse checks of their employment certificates by labor administrations, who change their employers or jobs without permission or who prolong their terms of employment without authorization, and they shall ask public security departments to deprive these foreigners of their qualification to reside in China. If these foreigners are to be repatriated, the repatriation costs shall be borne by the employer units or the foreigners themselves.

Article 30: Foreigners and employer units that forge, alter, transfer, trade or use other's certificates of employment or certificates of permission shall be subject to the confiscation of these certificates by labor administrations and shall be fined more than RMB 10,000 and less than RMB 100,000 (US$12,092). Those who commit offenses so serious as to qualify as criminal offenses shall be handed over to judicial departments to affix criminal responsibility.

Article 31: Staff members of certificate‑issuing departments and other relevant departments who usurp their power, ask for illegal fees or do wrong to aid their friends or relatives and as a result commit crimes shall be affixed with criminal responsibility or be disciplined administratively if their cases are not so serious as to qualify as criminal cases.

Chapter VI

Supplementary Rules

Article 32: Residents from China's Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao regions who seek jobs on the Chinese mainland shall be treated in line with the Regulations on the Management of the Employment of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Residents on the Chinese Mainland.

Article 33: These Regulations are not applicable to those foreigners who are employed in China's Taiwan, Hong Kong, or Macao regions.

Article 34: Privately owned economic organizations and individuals are forbidden to employ foreigners.

Article 35: Labor administrations at the provincial, autonomous regional and municipal level may formulate, together with public security departments and other departments, local implementation rules for these regulations and report these rules to the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation for the record.

Article 36: These Regulations shall be explained by the Ministry of Labor.

Article 37: These Regulations shall take effect on May 1, 1996. The stipulations on the employment of foreigners who have not obtained residence cards and foreigners who come to China for the purpose of study, promulgated by the former Ministry of Labor and Personnel and the Ministry of Public Security on October 5, 1987 shall be nullified at the same time.