Guangzhou's Work Facilitation Pilot Runs to 31 December 2026: Foreign Investors With RMB 4 Million Paid In or a Stake of 30% or More May Apply for Category B, a Move Between Listed Employers in the Same System in Guangdong May Need No New Permit, and What the Notice Leaves Open

Checked on 7 November 2026. We are an interpreting and translation company in Guangzhou (Guangzhou GuanRi Translation Service Co., Ltd.). We are not the work permit approval authority, not a market regulation department, not a law firm and not an agency that handles work permit applications. The service this article ends up recommending, translating the foreign-language documents in a work permit application into Chinese, is one we sell ourselves. This is not legal advice and not compliance advice. Where a number is our own arithmetic rather than a figure from an official document, the paragraph says so; this article uses none of our company's data.

This article is for foreign nationals who have invested in a company in Guangzhou and want a work permit to run it, for foreign employees moving from one employer to another in Guangdong, and for the HR staff who file their permits. Since November 2024 the Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau (Guangzhou Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs) has run a "work facilitation pilot" with four measures. This article is about two of them: a foreign investor can apply for a category B permit on the strength of the investment, and a foreign employee can move between certain employers in Guangdong without applying for a new permit. The pilot has been extended once and now runs to 31 December 2026. Below: what each of those two measures says, which of its conditions it does not define, what it says nothing about, and what to do if you plan to use it before that date. This article does not cover residents of Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan, who are not foreign nationals.

1. Which line describes you

The second column summarises the section it points to; where that section gives our reading, the table gives our reading too. Guangzhou's window is the one-stop window for foreigners working in China at the Guangzhou Immigration Service Center, 4th floor, Entry and Exit Reception Hall for Foreigners of Guangzhou Public Security Bureau, No. 155 Jiefang South Road, Yuexiu District, weekdays 9:00-12:00 and 13:00-17:00; the pilot notice also lists the Huangpu and Nansha district windows, and the bureau's notices give the city service hotline, 020-12345.

2. The notice, its extension and the dates

The Guangzhou bureau signed the notice on 21 November 2024 and published it the next day. It cites a provincial plan, the Guangdong work facilitation pilot implementation plan (粤科专字〔2024〕219号); we did not find the text of that plan online, in a web search on 7 November or in the provincial science and technology department's column of normative documents (back to 2013) as we read it on 6 November. The notice has four measures: moving between employers in Guangdong (measure 1), investors (measure 2), master's graduates in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (measure 3), and Guangzhou's standards for "high-end, precision, cutting-edge and in-short-supply" (高精尖缺) foreign talent (measure 4). Its line on dates reads (one sentence):

上述试点内容自印发之日起实施，至2025年12月31日止。

In English (our translation): the pilot measures above take effect on the day the notice is issued and end on 31 December 2025.

The extension notice is signed 23 January 2026 (the date at its foot) and was published on 27 January. Its operative sentence reads (one sentence, followed by a line giving the hotline):

为进一步便利外国人来华工作，广州市外国人来华工作便利化试点延期实施1年，实施期至2026年12月31日，试点内容、办理流程仍按《广州市科学技术局（广州市外国专家局）关于开展外国人来华工作便利化试点的通知》执行。

In English (our translation): to make it easier still for foreign nationals to work in China, Guangzhou's work facilitation pilot is extended by one year, to 31 December 2026, and its content and procedures remain as set out in the November 2024 notice.

A few dates follow from these, by our arithmetic. 31 December 2026 is 54 days after the day this article was checked, 7 November. And the extension notice was signed 23 days, and published 27 days, after the previous end date of 31 December 2025. Neither notice says what happens to an application filed before the end date and still pending after it, or to a permit granted under the pilot when it comes up for renewal after the pilot ends. And because Guangzhou's guide does not take a renewal earlier than 90 days before expiry, a permit that expires after 31 March 2027 cannot have its renewal filed until 2027. Whether there will be another extension, we do not predict.

We did not find an English version of either notice: the bureau's work permit column (53 entries) and its government information disclosure catalogue (2,900 entries, as we read them on 6 November) carry English versions of other documents, but not of these two.

3. The investor route: what measure 2 says

The whole of measure 2 reads (two sentences):

在广州市内投资（实缴）400万元人民币或占股比例30%以上，并完成经营主体登记注册、且参与日常经营的外国人，经所在区市场管理部门确认，可按规定申请办理工作许可（B类）。延期工作许可需提交按期实缴出资证明书、财务凭证、经营情况、纳税证明、中外籍员工缴纳社保证明等相关证明材料。

In English (our translation): a foreign national who has invested (paid in) RMB 4 million or holds a stake of 30% or more in Guangzhou, has completed registration of the business entity and takes part in its day-to-day operation may, once confirmed by the market administration department of the district, apply for a work permit (category B) in accordance with the regulations. To renew the permit, supporting documents such as certificates of capital paid in on schedule, financial records, business performance, proof of tax payment and proof of social insurance paid for Chinese and foreign employees must be submitted.

Read condition by condition:

• Money or stake. "Paid in" (实缴) sits next to the RMB 4 million: by our reading, money subscribed but not yet contributed does not meet that half. The 30% half does not mention paying in. By our reading "or more" (以上) governs both halves. The Civil Code (Article 1259) says that in the civil law that term includes the given figure; the notice does not define it, and our reading is that exactly 30% counts.
• Whose stake. The sentence is about "the foreign national" who invested or holds the stake. It does not say whether a stake held through a company, for example a Hong Kong holding company, counts.
• Registered, and taking part in running it. "Takes part in its day-to-day operation" is not defined.
• Confirmed by the district department. The notice does not say what the department confirms, on which documents, or how long it takes.
• "May apply... in accordance with the regulations." The notice says you may apply for category B. It does not say that the usual category B conditions, such as a bachelor's degree and two years of related work experience, are waived for this route, or which "regulations" it means.
• The renewal list. A renewal asks for proof of capital paid in on schedule, financial records, business performance, tax payments and social insurance for Chinese and foreign employees; the notice does not say what a company with no Chinese employees submits, so ask the window early. Guangzhou's guide wants a renewal filed in the online system 30-90 days before the permit expires; with less than 30 days left, the system will not take it, and the guide then sends a category B holder back to the procedure for applying from outside China.

One English summary of the pilot (first in our English search on 7 November) gives this measure, in its English, as a stake "of over 30%" and leaves out the district department's confirmation and "in accordance with the regulations"; it also gives 31 December 2025 as the end date, the date before the extension. Read the Chinese text.

4. The routes the national standard already has

Measure 2 is not the only route a foreign founder might look at. The national classification standard (Appendix 1 to Guangzhou's guide) has its own. In category A, under "innovative and entrepreneurial talents", item 1 reads in the official English (one sentence):

1. Business founders who contribute with major technological inventions, patents and other independent intellectual property rights or proprietary technology and have stable investment for three consecutive years with the actual investment in the business not less than 500,000 US dollars and individual shares not less than 30%.

Item 2 of the same group is for the chairman, legal representative, general manager or chief technical specialist of a business with that kind of intellectual property contribution and, for three consecutive years, annual sales of RMB 10 million or more or annual tax of RMB 1 million or more. Another category A line covers the chairman, legal representative, general manager or chief technical specialist of a small foreign-invested enterprise in an industry listed as encouraged. In category B, the usual line is a bachelor's degree or above and two years or more of related work experience; other lines include 4 times the local average wage, and 60 points or more on the points table (see our article on the points table).

Measure 2's text asks for none of the intellectual property contribution, the three years or the US$500,000 of category A item 1. Whether its "in accordance with the regulations" brings in the degree and experience of the usual category B line, the notice does not say; ask the window.

5. Moving between employers in Guangdong: what measure 1 says

The whole of measure 1 reads (five sentences in two paragraphs):

外国人在广东省内区域内同一系统内的有关单位流动，经流出单位和流入单位同意，并在流出、流入单位分别备案后，可免于重新办理工作许可，工作许可有效期仍按原有效期计算，延期、注销等业务仍需在原工作许可审批地办理，延期时应提供经现单位盖章的相关情况说明。涉及薪酬承诺事项的外籍人才，延期和注销工作许可时应按原承诺薪酬提交相关证明材料。《外国人工作许可证》处于有效期内的，无需办理变更。

本措施实行清单制管理，未纳入清单的单位人员流动按照外国人来华工作许可原程序办理，即在流出单位办理外国人工作许可注销后，在流入单位重新办理外国人来华工作许可。详情请咨询广州市及黄埔、南沙外国人工作服务窗口。

In English (our translation): a foreign national who moves between relevant units within the same system in Guangdong may, with the consent of the unit being left and the unit being joined, and after each has filed the move, be exempt from applying for a work permit again; the permit's validity still runs from its original term; renewal, cancellation and similar business must still be handled where the permit was approved, and a renewal shall come with an explanatory statement sealed by the current unit. Foreign talent whose permit involved a salary commitment shall submit proof against the originally committed salary when renewing or cancelling. If the Foreigner's Work Permit card is still valid, no change needs to be made to it. This measure is managed by a list: moves between units not on the list follow the original procedure, that is, after the permit is cancelled at the unit being left, a new permit is applied for at the unit being joined. For details, ask the foreigners' work service windows of Guangzhou and of Huangpu and Nansha.

What the measure does not define, or leaves to the window:

• "The same system" (同一系统). It is not defined. Guangzhou's guide puts the same word in quotation marks to mean the online work permit system; here it has no quotation marks, and by our reading it means the same group or sector of organisations. Ask the window whether your two employers count; the approval authority decides.
• The list. The notice does not publish it, and we did not find it in the bureau's work permit column or disclosure catalogue as we read them on 6 November, or in a web search on 7 November. Moves between employers not on it follow the original procedure.
• Filing. Each employer files the move; the notice does not say with whom, or whether in the online system or at the window.
• The clock does not restart. The permit keeps its original expiry date; renewal and cancellation are still handled where the permit was approved, and a renewal needs a statement sealed by the employer you work for at the time. By Guangzhou's guide, a renewal still has to be filed 30-90 days before the permit expires.
• Salary commitments follow you. If your permit was approved on a committed salary, you submit proof against that salary at renewal and cancellation; for a renewal on a salary commitment, Guangzhou's guide asks for the individual income tax records of the last 12 months.

Without measure 1, changing employers in Guangzhou means cancelling the old permit and applying for a new one; our article on changing employers goes through that procedure, and it also covers the separate Guangzhou–Foshan rules, which cut some documents from the new application but do not remove the need for one. Guangzhou's guide gives the employer 10 working days from the early termination of the contract or the end of the employment relationship to apply to cancel the permit; the notice does not say whether that still applies to a move under measure 1. The notice exempts a move only "after each has filed" it. Whether working at the new employer before that counts as illegal employment is for the public security authority to decide; that article's section 7 sets out the penalties.

The same English summary gives the only condition as "with the consent of their current and new employers", and adds that you "apply for a change of employment online". The notice's Chinese text also requires "the same system", the filing by each employer and the list; it says nothing about applying online for a change, and it says the card itself needs no change.

6. The residence permit: the notice says nothing about it

Measure 1 is about the work permit only; the notice does not mention residence permits. The residence permit is issued by the public security authority, and the law sets its own rule on changes. Article 33, paragraph 2 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law reads in the official English (one sentence):

Where the registered item in a foreigner’s residence permit has changed, the holder shall, within 10 days from the date of change, apply to the exit/entry administration of public security organ under the local people’s government at or above the county level in the place of residence for going through the formalities for alteration.

Paragraph 1 of the same article lists the registered items, including the "reason for residence". Whether moving employer under measure 1 changes a registered item, the notice does not say; the public security authority decides. Separately, Article 26 of the Regulations on the Administration of the Entry and Exit of Foreigners puts a duty on the employer. Its opening and first item read in the official English (one sentence followed by four items; quoted here are the opening and item 1):

Upon discovery of one of the following circumstances, the entity that employs a foreigner or admits a foreign student shall, in a timely manner, report to the exit and entry administration authority of the public security organ of the local people’s government at or above the county level: (1) A foreigner employed resigns or changes employment location;

The official English is of the 2013 text; the 2025 revision leaves the Chinese of Article 26 unchanged. The pilot does not mention this duty either. Ask the exit-entry office before you move, before the 10 days could start to run; if you have already moved, ask now.

7. The other two measures, and the rest of Guangdong

Measure 3 lets a foreign graduate with a master's degree or above in science, technology, engineering or mathematics from a listed world high-level university or one of the 147 "Double First-Class" universities in China, within one year of graduating and with a confirmed employer, get a category B permit of up to one year without work experience; our points article covers it, and our article on staying to work after a degree in China covers the separate route for foreign graduates. Measure 3 also lets a graduate who is starting a business have a category B permit of up to one year applied for by an incubator or a similar body. Measure 4 keeps Guangzhou's high-end talent standards in use; see our article on Guangzhou's published cases.

The notice is Guangzhou's. The plan it cites is a provincial one, but we did not find its text, so we do not know which cities it covers; and we have not checked whether other cities in Guangdong have issued notices of their own. If your employer is in Shenzhen, Dongguan or elsewhere, ask that city's window; if you move under measure 1, renewal and cancellation stay where the permit was approved, so ask that city's window too.

8. Foreign-language documents, and what we do

Whichever route you take, documents issued abroad go into the application. The checklist in Guangzhou's guide includes proof of at least two years of related full-time work experience and a criminal record certificate, both listed with their translations, and the highest degree certificate; some category A applicants may give a written commitment instead of some of these. On documents not in Chinese, the guide says, in the official English (two sentences):

5. For documents of non-Chinese language (passport or international travel documents excluded), the employer shall provide the translated version issued by Chinese notary organizations or the translated version authenticated by Chinese diplomatic or consular missions in foreign countries or foreign diplomatic or consular missions in China. The employer shall re-submit the document if the translated version is in serious discrepancy with the original copy.

It names Chinese notary offices, which issue the translation, and embassies or consulates, which authenticate it. The guide was revised in 2020, before the Apostille Convention took effect for China in November 2023, and it does not say whether an apostille now takes the place of the consular step; see our article on apostille or consular legalisation.

We translate those documents: degree certificates and transcripts, work experience certificates from employers abroad, criminal record certificates, and the registration documents of a foreign holding company if the district department or the window asks for them, in the languages listed on our FAQ page (between Chinese and 24+ languages). Because the guide asks for a translation issued by a notary office, we do the step before that: we translate the document accurately, in a layout that matches the original, for the notary office; whether it accepts the translation is decided by the notary office under its own procedure.

Our FAQ page says we coordinate notarised translation with Chinese notary offices; the notary step typically adds 3-7 business days and RMB 150-400 per document; certificates such as diplomas are charged per document, typically RMB 50-120, and longer documents by the 1,000 Chinese characters; new clients typically pay a 30-50% deposit; an invoice adds 6% for a VAT special invoice or 3% for a general invoice. We do not judge whether you qualify for measure 1 or measure 2, and we do not apply for work permits.

Send us the documents and the date you need them by: WhatsApp / 微信 +86 139 2416 6640 (WeChat ID: Saralee93), or our contact page.

Sources

• Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, notice on the work facilitation pilot, 21 November 2024, and notice extending it, 23 January 2026.
• Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, notice moving the work permit window to the Guangzhou Immigration Service Center, 19 September 2025.
• Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, Guangzhou work permit guide (2020 revision) and its attachments, including the official English guide, whose Appendix 1 carries the classification standard in Chinese and English.
• Guangzhou and Foshan Municipal Science and Technology Bureaus, measures on Guangzhou–Foshan work permit facilitation, 3 February 2026.
• Exit and Entry Administration Law, Article 33: Chinese; official English.
• Regulations on the Administration of the Entry and Exit of Foreigners, Article 26, official English (2013 text): National Immigration Administration; 2025 revision as published by the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau.
• Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, Article 1259: Chinese; official English (NPC).
• The English summary compared in sections 3 and 5: Elite Recruitment and Education, as read on 7 November 2026.