Can a Guangzhou Employer Check a Foreign Hire's Criminal Record in China? The 2021 Police Rules, the Duty on Schools and Training Centres, and What the Check Cannot Show

Checked on 9 November 2026. We are an interpreting and translation company in Guangzhou (Guangzhou GuanRi Translation Service Co., Ltd.). We are not a police or exit-entry authority, not an education authority, not a law firm, not an HR consultancy and not a background-screening company. The service this article ends up recommending, translating documents, is one we sell ourselves. This is not legal advice and not employment-law advice. This article uses none of our company's data.

This article is for employers in Guangzhou that hire foreign nationals (companies, schools, kindergartens, training centres and other units that work with children) and want to know, or are required to find out, whether a foreign candidate or employee has a criminal record in China. It covers what the Ministry of Public Security's 2021 rules on criminal record inquiries let an employer do and where an inquiry about a foreign national goes, Article 62 of the Law on the Protection of Minors, the 2020 opinion on pre-employment checks of school staff, and what a Chinese inquiry cannot show. It does not cover inquiries about Chinese citizens, commercial background-screening services, or the certificate that a work permit asks for from the employee's country of nationality or habitual residence; that certificate has its own article, linked in section 6.

1. Which line describes you

If you are…	What to do	Who decides
A company hiring a foreign national for a post that you cannot tie to a specific legal provision on occupational prohibition	The 2021 rules let a unit inquire only where it complies with laws and administrative regulations on occupational prohibition, and the application form must state the specific legal provision relied on; an inquiry that does not fit a legal ground is not accepted (sections 2 and 3). If you cannot name a provision, this route is not open to you. Ask a practising lawyer before relying on any provision. The work permit asks separately for a certificate from the employee's country of nationality or habitual residence (section 6)	The exit-entry administration at or above county level where your unit is domiciled
A school, kindergarten, training centre for minors or another unit in close contact with minors, hiring a foreign national	Article 62 of the Law on the Protection of Minors requires you, when recruiting, to check with the public security organs and the procuratorate, and not to hire someone with a record of sexual assault, abuse, trafficking, violent injury or similar illegal or criminal acts (section 4). For schools and kindergartens, the 2020 opinion runs the check through the education bureau with the candidate's authorisation, and training centres for minors are checked by reference to it; the opinion does not mention foreign nationals. Ask as soon as you decide to recruit, not the week before the start date: a school, kindergarten or training centre asks the education bureau that supervises it, or, if none does, the education bureau of the district where it is located, how to check a foreign candidate; any other unit asks the department that supervises its trade; any unit can ask the exit-entry administration where it is domiciled whether it accepts an inquiry on the basis of Article 62 (sections 2, 4 and 9). The 2020 opinion puts the check before the person takes up the post; if you have no answer by the start date, ask the education bureau or the department that supervises you, in writing, what to do meanwhile, and keep a note of whom you asked, when, and what you were told	How the check is run: the public security organs and the procuratorate, through the education bureau for schools, kindergartens and training centres; other units ask their trade's supervising department about any local route; whether you hire: you, within Article 62
A unit in close contact with minors that already employs foreign staff	Article 62 also requires you to check your staff every year, at regular intervals, and to dismiss promptly anyone found, through a check or in any other way, to have done such acts; failing to check, or keeping such a person, is what Article 126 penalises (section 4). If foreign staff were hired without the recruitment check, do not wait for a yearly date: ask the same offices now how to check them. For schools and kindergartens, the 2020 opinion says a member of staff found through the check to have sexual offence information shall be stopped from working immediately (section 4). How to end a contract is an employment-law question; ask a practising lawyer	How the check is run: as in the row above; whether you keep the person: you, within Article 62
A kindergarten, school or training centre whose foreign teacher is employed or supplied by an agency	The 2021 rules give a unit a route only for its own current staff or candidates, and the application must include material showing the person is one (section 2); Article 62 speaks of the unit's staff and does not mention agencies (section 4). Ask now if the teacher is already teaching, or before the teacher starts: ask the education bureau that supervises you (or, if none does, the education bureau of the district where you are located) who checks a teacher supplied this way, ask the exit-entry administration where you are domiciled whether it accepts your inquiry about such a teacher (section 9), and ask a practising lawyer	The education bureau on how its check is run; the exit-entry administration on whether it accepts an inquiry; you decide on the placement, after asking a lawyer
Hiring someone who is arriving from abroad and has never lived in China	Get the certificate the work permit asks for, from the country of nationality or of habitual residence (section 6). A Chinese inquiry is about records made by China's specialised state organs, and shows only what is in the platform when you ask (section 5). If you are a school, kindergarten, training centre or another unit in close contact with minors, Article 62 still requires you to check (second row); it makes no exception for candidates from abroad	The work permit authority decides which certificate it accepts; for the Article 62 check, as in the second row
Hiring someone already working in China who is changing employer	Guangzhou's work permit guide lets a transfer within China that meets its conditions and whose records are in the system skip the criminal record certificate, and the certificate it does ask for is issued by the country of nationality or of habitual residence, which the guide says does not include China (section 6). If you need to know about the years in China, the routes include a unit inquiry, where you have a legal ground (section 2); for schools, kindergartens and training centres for minors, the education bureau's check (section 4); and the person's own certificate (section 7)	The work permit authority decides what it accepts; the exit-entry administration decides on an inquiry; the education bureau on its check
Asking the candidate to bring their own Chinese certificate	Under Guangzhou's guide, a foreign national applies with a residence permit or permanent residence card and 180 days (inclusive) or more in China in all, and a third application within a year needs proof of a reasonable use (section 7). Someone who does not meet this cannot get one, so do not make it a condition they cannot meet. Whether you may require it for a post without an occupational prohibition is an employment-law question; ask a practising lawyer	The exit-entry administration where the person lives decides whether to issue
The foreign candidate or employee, asked to sign a Chinese authorisation or form for a check	Ask to see the form before you sign and what it authorises; under the 2020 opinion the education bureau checks on your authorisation (section 4). If the employer is a school, kindergarten, training centre or another unit in close contact with minors, the law requires it to check applicants when recruiting and staff every year (section 4). If you cannot read the form, ask the employer for a translation or have it translated before you sign (section 10). What happens to the offer, or to your job, if you do not sign is an employment-law question; ask a practising lawyer	You decide whether to sign; the employer decides on the hire or the job, within the law
You are the employer and the candidate or employee will not sign	Under the 2020 opinion the education bureau checks on the person's authorisation (section 4); ask the bureau what happens without one (other units: ask the office that runs your check, section 9), and ask a practising lawyer about the employment side. Do not sign an authorisation or form in the person's name or hand one in as theirs; for an inquiry under the 2021 rules, Article 15 punishes applying with false material or someone else's identity (section 8)	The education bureau, or the office that runs your check, on the check; you decide on the job, after asking a lawyer
The answer says the person has a record	For a unit in close contact with minors, Article 62 says do not hire, or dismiss promptly, where the record is of sexual assault, abuse, trafficking, violent injury or similar acts; for schools and kindergartens, the 2020 opinion adds that a member of staff found to have sexual offence information shall be stopped from working immediately (section 4). Whether a particular record is of that kind, how to end the contract, and, for other posts, what the record means for the job are questions for a practising lawyer. If a foreign employee leaves, report the departure (last row). Keep what the check tells you confidential and do not spread it or use it for anything else (section 8); a child you find in your work to have been harmed or to be at risk is a different matter, which Article 11 of the Law on the Protection of Minors says to report at once (section 8)	A unit in close contact with minors: you decide, within Article 62, and the education, human resources and social security, market regulation and other authorities enforce it (Article 126); other posts: you decide, after asking a lawyer
The person says the answer is wrong	The 2021 rules let the party concerned raise a written objection with the office that answered; it replies within 15 working days of accepting the objection, extendable by up to 30 working days. Under the 2020 opinion, the person queried raises it with the education bureau they authorised (section 8)	Under the 2021 rules, the office that answered; under the 2020 opinion, the Ministry of Public Security re-checks at the Ministry of Education's request
The person committed an offence before turning 18	For a unit inquiry, the 2021 rules say the answer states no criminal record where the person was under 18 at the time and was sentenced to five years' imprisonment or less, unless a law provides otherwise; the 2020 opinion leaves out juvenile records that meet the sealing conditions (section 8). There is nothing to apply for: the office applies this when it answers. It concerns the Chinese answer only; a certificate from another country follows that country's rules. If the person thinks it was not applied, see the row above	The office that answers
A foreign employee leaves, changes work location, or breaks exit-entry rules	That is a reporting duty, not an inquiry: the employer reports it promptly to the public security exit-entry administration at or above county level where it is located; see our article on resigning in Guangzhou	Your local exit-entry administration

The table is a summary; each row except the last is explained in the section it names, with the date of each official text; the last row is covered in the linked article.

2. What the 2021 rules let an employer do

The national rule is the Provisions on Criminal Record Inquiries by Public Security Organs (公安机关办理犯罪记录查询工作规定), issued by the Ministry of Public Security on 3 December 2021 and in force since 31 December 2021. We read it as reprinted on the Beijing municipal government's website. The translations of these rules in this article are ours. Article 4, paragraph 2 (one sentence; translation ours):

A unit may inquire into the criminal records of its current staff or of persons it intends to recruit, but shall comply with the provisions of laws and administrative regulations on occupational prohibition.

Article 5, paragraph 2 (two sentences; translation ours):

An inquiry applied for by a unit is accepted by the public security police station of the place where the unit is domiciled. Where the person inquired about is a foreign national, it is accepted by the exit-entry administration of the public security organ at or above county level of the place where the unit is domiciled.

Article 6, paragraph 3 (two sentences; translation ours):

A unit applying for an inquiry shall submit a letter of introduction from the unit, valid identification of the person handling it, an inquiry application form bearing the unit's official seal, and relevant material showing that the person inquired about is a member of its current staff or a person it intends to recruit. The inquiry application form shall state the specific legal provision on which the inquiry is based.

Article 7 says the office examines the material, accepts it if complete, tells you once what is missing if not, and, where a unit's inquiry does not fit a legal ground, does not accept it and explains why. Article 8 says the office answers on the spot if it can, and otherwise issues a receipt and completes it within 3 working days; in complicated cases, with the approval of the head of a public security organ at or above county level, it can investigate, and that time does not count towards the 3 days. Article 9 says a unit is told the result in a 查询告知函 (inquiry notification letter); an individual gets a certificate of no criminal record if none is found, and a notification of non-issuance if a record is found. Article 18 lets each locality draw up its own implementing details, and Article 19 says that where national bodies have special inquiry rules for particular matters, those rules apply.

Two things follow. The rules give a unit a route for its own staff and its own candidates, not for anyone else. And the application form has to name a provision: on the rules' wording, wanting to know is not by itself a ground.

3. Which provisions count: the rules do not list them

Article 4 refers to "laws and administrative regulations on occupational prohibition" and stops there: nowhere do the 2021 rules list which laws those are, or which posts they cover. The office decides whether the provision on your form fits (Article 7). If you are not sure your post is covered, do not guess and do not borrow a provision written for another trade; ask a practising lawyer which provision, if any, applies to the post, and ask the office before you go what it wants on the form.

One provision that requires a check in so many words, for one group of employers, is Article 62 of the Law on the Protection of Minors, which is the next section. For every other kind of post, this article does not say whether you have a ground; that is the lawyer's question.

4. Schools, kindergartens, training centres and other units in close contact with minors

The Law on the Protection of Minors was revised in 2020 and amended on 26 April 2024; we read the amended text as reprinted on the website of Shanghai's city management law enforcement bureau (上海市城市管理行政执法局). Article 62 (two paragraphs, three sentences; translation ours):

When a unit in close contact with minors recruits staff, it shall inquire with the public security organs and the people's procuratorates whether the applicant has any record of illegal or criminal acts such as sexual assault, abuse, trafficking or violent injury; where it finds that the applicant has a record of such acts, it shall not hire the applicant.

A unit in close contact with minors shall inquire every year, at regular intervals, whether its staff have any of the above records of illegal or criminal acts. Where it finds, through the inquiry or in any other way, that a member of its staff has committed any of the above acts, it shall promptly dismiss that person.

Article 130 defines a unit in close contact with minors: educational institutions such as schools and kindergartens; training institutions outside school; rescue and protection institutions for minors, child welfare institutions and other placement and rescue institutions; infant care and early education services; after-school care and temporary care; domestic service agencies; medical institutions treating minors; and other enterprises, public institutions and social organisations with duties of education, training, guardianship, rescue, care or medical treatment towards minors, and the like. Article 98 says the state sets up an inquiry system for persons with records of these acts and provides free inquiries to these units. Under Article 126, a unit that fails to inquire, or that hires or keeps someone with such a record, is ordered by the authorities concerned, such as education, human resources and social security, and market regulation, according to their duties, to correct it within a time limit, given a warning and fined up to RMB 50,000; if it refuses to correct or the consequences are serious, it is ordered to suspend business for rectification or has its business licence or relevant permits revoked, and is fined RMB 50,000 to 500,000; the persons directly responsible are disciplined according to law.

Note the words. Article 62 asks about records of "illegal or criminal acts" (违法犯罪记录), wider than the 2021 rules' "criminal record", under which everything short of guilt confirmed by an effective court judgment is treated as not guilty (section 5). Which records a given check returns is for the office that runs it to say.

Schools. The Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Public Security issued an opinion on pre-employment checks of school staff for sexual offences on 20 August 2020 (published 18 September 2020). Its "schools" are primary and secondary schools, including secondary vocational and special education schools, and kindergartens (Article 3). Article 5, paragraph 1 (one sentence; translation ours):

Teachers, administrative staff, ancillary staff, security staff and other school staff working on campus who are newly recruited by a school shall undergo an inquiry for sexual offence information before taking up their posts.

Article 7, paragraph 3 (one sentence; translation ours):

Following the principle of territorial management, education administrative departments at or above county level inquire into the sexual offence information of persons to be employed and of current staff, on their authorisation.

Article 17 says staff of higher education institutions and of training institutions for minors outside school are checked by reference to the opinion. Article 18 says other inquiries for trades in close contact with minors already under way locally can continue in their existing form. Article 12 says a school's candidates shall be checked before taking up the post; that where a candidate is found to have sexual offence information, the education bureau or the school shall not hire them; and that a member of staff found to have it shall be stopped from working immediately and the employment contract terminated promptly according to the rules. The database the opinion describes covers sexual offences only, of the kinds listed in Article 4: convictions for rape, forcible indecency and indecency with a child, decisions not to prosecute these under Article 177, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Procedure Law, and administrative penalties for indecency.

The opinion does not mention foreign nationals, passports or anyone outside China; it describes the check as running on the identity information the Ministry of Education passes to the Ministry of Public Security (Article 8). It does not say how a foreign candidate is checked. Article 62 of the law speaks of "applicants" and "staff" and draws no line by nationality, and the law does not say how a foreign applicant is checked either. Ask the education bureau that supervises your school as soon as you decide to recruit, not just before the start date, and get its answer in writing if you can; the opinion puts the check before the person takes up the post (Articles 5 and 12).

5. What a Chinese inquiry cannot show you

Article 2, paragraph 1 of the 2021 rules (two sentences; quoted here is the first; translation ours):

The criminal record referred to in these Provisions means the objective record of a person who has committed a crime made by the specialised organs of the Chinese state.

Its second sentence says that apart from guilt confirmed by an effective court judgment, every other situation shall be treated as not guilty; paragraph 2 says someone suspected of a crime is a person with no criminal record where no effective judgment or ruling has been made, the procuratorate has decided not to prosecute, or the case-handling unit has cancelled the case, dropped the prosecution or ended the investigation. Article 3 says the result reflects only what has been entered in the platform at the time of the inquiry; the 2020 opinion says the same of its database (Article 9).

So a Chinese inquiry is about China. A conviction in another country is not a record made by the Chinese state. For a candidate who has never lived in China there are few or no Chinese years for it to cover, and an answer of "no record" tells you little about the rest of their life; that is what the certificate from the person's country of nationality or habitual residence is for. It does not lift Article 62's duty to check (section 4). A candidate who lived in China before and is now coming from abroad is different: the work permit certificate is not issued for time in mainland China (section 6), so for the years in China, look to a Chinese inquiry where you have a route (sections 2 and 4) or to the person's own certificate where they can get one (section 7).

6. The certificate the work permit asks for is a different document

Guangzhou's work permit guide (the 2020 revision, published by the Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau) lists, as item 4 of its checklist for applying from abroad, a certificate of no criminal record and its translation: issued by the police, security, court or similar authorities of the applicant's country of nationality or habitual residence and authenticated by a Chinese embassy or consulate (the guide lists exceptions), issued within 6 months. Its note says habitual residence means the country or region where the applicant last lived continuously for a year or more after leaving the country of nationality, and does not include China (the official English version says it excludes mainland China). For a transfer within China that meets the guide's conditions (the post or occupation unchanged and the work-type residence permit still valid) and whose records can be found in the system, the guide says the degree certificate, work experience and criminal record certificate need not be submitted again, but a valid residence permit and the cancellation certificate of the previous work permit must be uploaded. On translation, the guide says non-Chinese documents need a Chinese translation issued by a notary organisation in China; in its checklist notes, the alternative is a translation authenticated by a Chinese embassy or consulate abroad, or by a foreign embassy or consulate in China.

How to get that certificate, and what makes it fail, is in our article on criminal record certificates for foreign teachers. The point for an employer: by the guide's own definition, habitual residence does not include China (in the official English, mainland China), so the work permit certificate is not issued for time spent in mainland China, and a transfer within China may not produce a new one at all.

7. Asking the candidate to bring their own certificate

Article 5, paragraph 1 of the 2021 rules says a foreign national who has resided in China for 180 days (inclusive) or more applies to the exit-entry administration at or above county level where they live. Guangzhou's guide for foreigners asks for a residence permit or permanent residence card and a cumulative 180 days (inclusive). Article 6, paragraph 2 says an individual who applies three times or more within a year must submit material showing the certificate is for a reasonable use. How a foreign national applies in Guangzhou, including through someone else, is in our article on police certificates after living in Guangzhou.

Two limits follow. Someone who has lived in China on visas only, or for less than 180 days in all, cannot get one under Guangzhou's guide, so a hiring condition that requires it shuts them out. And the certificate is the person's own document, issued to them; whether you may require it for a post with no occupational prohibition is an employment-law question for a practising lawyer.

8. What comes back, and what you may do with it

The answer. A unit gets a 查询告知函 (Article 9). Article 10, paragraph 3 says that where the person has a record but was under 18 at the time and was sentenced to five years' imprisonment or less, the office issues the letter stating no criminal record, unless a law provides otherwise. The 2020 opinion's database leaves out juvenile records that meet the sealing conditions of the Criminal Procedure Law (Article 4); its answer says whether there is sexual offence information and, if there is, what type (Article 10).

Objections. Under Articles 11 and 12 of the 2021 rules, a party who disagrees with the result can raise a written objection with the office that answered and ask for a re-check; the office replies in writing within 15 working days of accepting it, and in complicated cases can extend that, by no more than 30 working days. Under Article 11 of the 2020 opinion, the person queried raises it with the education bureau they authorised, which passes it through the platform to the Ministry of Education, which asks the Ministry of Public Security to re-check.

Confidentiality. Article 16 of the 2021 rules (two sentences; translation ours):

The units and individuals concerned shall carry out inquiries strictly in accordance with the procedures laid down in these rules, and shall keep confidential the criminal information they learn through an inquiry, and shall not spread it or use it for other purposes. Those who violate this are held liable according to law; where it constitutes a crime, criminal liability is pursued according to law.

Article 14 of the 2020 opinion lays down the same confidentiality duty for sexual offence information. Neither Article 16 of the 2021 rules nor Article 14 of the 2020 opinion lists an exception for telling parents, other schools or agencies; both are about what a check tells you. A child harmed or at risk is a separate matter: Article 11 of the Law on the Protection of Minors requires units in close contact with minors and their staff who find in their work that a minor has been harmed, may have been harmed or faces other danger to report it at once to the public security, civil affairs, education or other departments concerned, and Article 40 says schools and kindergartens shall not conceal sexual assault, sexual harassment or similar illegal or criminal acts against minors, and shall report them promptly to the public security organs and the education bureau. Article 15 of the 2021 rules says that applying with fabricated facts, concealed facts, false material or someone else's identity, or forging or altering an inquiry notification letter or a certificate of no criminal record, is punished according to law once verified, and that criminal liability is pursued where it constitutes a crime.

What you then do about the job, for any post not covered by Article 62, is a question for a practising lawyer; we do not advise on it.

9. In Guangzhou: where to ask

Under Article 5, paragraph 2, an inquiry about a foreign national goes to the exit-entry administration at or above county level where your unit is domiciled, which may not be where you actually operate. The Guangzhou Public Security Bureau's page of exit-entry offices and guides (dated 30 October 2026) lists, among its guides for foreigners, one on certificates of no criminal record, in Chinese and in English, for a foreign national applying for their own certificate; its guide on other services covers residence confirmation, cancelling household registration, household registration and foster care for Chinese-national children, and lost foreign passports. None of the guides on that page is for a unit's inquiry. The page also carries the list of foreigners' exit-entry offices dated 30 October 2026, with names and addresses.

So before you go, ask what the office wants: call 12367, which a page on the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau's website, crediting the National Immigration Administration, describes as a 24-hour line for immigration policy questions, or ask at the office for the district where your unit is domiciled; if your unit is domiciled outside Guangzhou, Article 5 points to the exit-entry administration where it is domiciled, so ask there first. Ask which office takes an inquiry from a unit domiciled where yours is, which application form it uses, what counts as material showing the person is your staff or candidate, and whether it accepts the provision you intend to cite. Schools, kindergartens and training centres should ask the education bureau that supervises them, or the district's education bureau if none does, the same questions about the 2020 opinion's route; other units in close contact with minors should ask the department that supervises their trade.

10. What we do, and what we do not do

We translate documents. For this subject that means: the Chinese forms your foreign candidate or employee is asked to sign, such as an authorisation for a check or an application form, into English or another language listed on our FAQ page, so that the person can read what they are agreeing to; and the certificate from the person's country of nationality or habitual residence into Chinese, for your files or wherever the body receiving it accepts a translation from a translation company. This article does not ask you to send us an inquiry notification letter or an education bureau result: Article 16 of the 2021 rules and Article 14 of the 2020 opinion require the unit to keep what a check tells it confidential and not to spread it (section 8), and whether showing a result to anyone outside the unit, a translator included, fits those rules is a question for a practising lawyer. For the work permit itself, Guangzhou's guide asks for a translation issued by a notary organisation in China or authenticated by an embassy or consulate (section 6); ask the work permit window which one your file needs before you order anything. Our FAQ page says certificates are charged per document, typically RMB 50-120, with RMB 30 per document for the company seal, and that quotes are always free; an invoice adds 6% for a VAT special invoice or 3% for a general invoice.

We do not make criminal record inquiries, run background checks, act for you at the exit-entry office or the education bureau, or advise on employment law or criminal records.

Send us the form or certificate and the date you need it by: WhatsApp / 微信 +86 139 2416 6640 (WeChat ID: Saralee93), or our contact page. Prices are on our FAQ page.

Sources

Ministry of Public Security, Provisions on Criminal Record Inquiries by Public Security Organs (Gong Tong Zi [2021] No. 19), 3 December 2021, in force 31 December 2021, as reprinted by the Beijing municipal government.
Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Minors, revised 17 October 2020, in force 1 June 2021, amended 26 April 2024, as reprinted by Shanghai's city management law enforcement bureau.
Supreme People's Procuratorate, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Public Security, Opinion on Establishing a System of Pre-Employment Inquiries into Sexual Offence Information for School Staff, 20 August 2020, published 18 September 2020.
Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, Guangzhou work permit guide (2020 revision): Chinese guide and official English guide.
Guangzhou Public Security Bureau, exit-entry offices and guides, page dated 30 October 2026, and page on passports describing the 12367 line, 14 August 2024.