工作许可
Guangzhou Work Permit: 12 Officially Published Approvals, Read One by One for the Category and the Basis
Guangzhou's Science and Technology Bureau published 12 typical work-permit cases in four batches (2023 to 2025): 11 approvals and one forged permit notice; Huangpu District published one more. This article reads them one by one: a foreign master's graduate of a Chinese university approved as B, a French intern on the 1,000 interns programme approved as C for at most 6 months with no extension, a points score of 86 approved as A on a salary of only 70,000 to 150,000 yuan, a senior manager at a large company approved as A, and the 6-times-salary route approved as A with tax payment certificates required at renewal. Five cases rest on a pilot given a two-year trial from 1 January 2023, and the 2025 batch cites the national standard; the Guangzhou-Foshan measures of February 2026 set the 6-times and 4-times tests against the previous year's Guangdong all-urban-employee average wage, and the B age limit by the statutory retirement age. The cases are summaries, not checklists: document lists end with 'and other materials', the CPA case never mentions authenticating the certificate, and Guangzhou's guide asks for translations issued by a notary office or authenticated by an embassy or consulate.
Contents
- 1. Find the case that looks like yours
- 2. What these cases are, and what they leave out
- 3. Four routes in the 2025 batch, read line by line
- 4. The pilot, the 2026 measures, and three wordings of "6 times the average wage"
- 5. The 6-times route has a bill at renewal
- 6. The forged notice
- 7. Which documents are foreign-language, and what Guangzhou asks for
- 8. Where we fit
- 9. Sources
Checked on 16 October 2026. We are a translation and interpreting company in Guangzhou (Guangzhou GuanRi Translation Service Co., Ltd.). We are not the work-permit authority, not a law firm, and not an agency that files work-permit applications. The service this article recommends at the end, translating the foreign-language documents in a work-permit file, is one we sell ourselves; read it on that basis. This is not legal advice and it is not compliance advice: whether an application is approved, and in which category, is decided by the work-permit authority, and we do not speak for it. Apart from our own contact details in section 8, the arithmetic in section 4 and the sentences we mark as our reading, every case, rule and number below comes from the official pages listed in section 9. Those pages are in Chinese, except the Guangzhou guide and the window notice, which also have official English; where we put Chinese wording into English and no official English exists, the English is ours, and the blockquotes give the original text.
Most guides to the Chinese work permit explain the A, B and C categories in the abstract. The Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau (which is also the Guangzhou Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs) has done something more useful: in its work-permit column it has published four batches of "typical cases" (典型案例), on 21 November 2023, 4 September 2024, 31 December 2024 and 24 December 2025. Together they hold 12 cases: 11 approvals and one forged permit notice. Huangpu District published one more approval on 23 December 2024. Each case describes the applicant and the outcome; most also say what was submitted, which category was granted and on what basis, and most end with a reminder (在此提醒) that is the most practical paragraph on the page.
This article goes through all 13 and pulls out what an HR team or an applicant can actually use: which route each approval took, what was on the submission list, what the cases do not say, and one newer rule, the Guangzhou–Foshan measures of February 2026, that changes how two of the routes are read.
1. Find the case that looks like yours
Questions about any row go to the Guangzhou foreign-worker service window: 4th floor, No. 155 Jiefang South Road, Yuexiu District, weekdays 9:00–12:00 and 13:00–17:00; Guangzhou government service hotline 020-12345 (both from the bureau's notice of 19 September 2025). The Huangpu case was approved by the Huangpu District Science and Technology Bureau; if your company is registered in a district, ask 12345 where your application is handled.
| Your situation | What the official case granted, and on what basis | What the case says was submitted | What to check before you copy it | Section |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foreign master's graduate of a Chinese university, hired soon after graduating | B (2025 batch, case 1), as an "outstanding foreign graduate" | Degree certificate, transcript averaging 80 or more, certificate of no misconduct at university, criminal record certificate, medical report "and other materials"; the employer added the contract, a report on why it is hiring, and proof that the job was advertised to domestic workers through the local public employment and talent service agency for 30 days, "and other materials" | Graduated within one year, job matches the major, pay in principle not below the local average urban wage; the 30-day advert has to go through that public agency, so start it early | 3 |
| French student or recent graduate on the China–France 1,000 interns programme | C, valid 6 months (2025 batch, case 2) | Tripartite agreement, internship confirmation letter from the French Embassy's cultural section (Institut français), civil liability insurance | 3 to 6 months only, no extension; the reminder adds a criminal record certificate and international medical insurance | 3 |
| Points score of 85 or more | A (2025 batch, case 3): 76 base points plus a 10-point Guangdong bonus | The case describes the points, not the documents | The guide asks for proof of every scored item; the 10-point bonus was for a degree from a Chinese "Double First-Class" or high-level university; 60 points or more can apply for B | 3 |
| Senior manager at a large company | A (2025 batch, case 4) | Company financial statements and employee social insurance records | Size and job title must both qualify; for an industrial company, 1,000 or more staff and revenue of 400 million yuan or more | 3 |
| Paid at least 6 times the local average wage | A (2025 batch, case 5; December 2024 batch, case 3; Huangpu 2024) | Application form, work experience certificate, medical certificate, contract, passport, photo "and other materials"; highest degree and criminal record may be covered by a written commitment | At renewal you need individual income tax payment certificates that match the contract salary; the December 2024 case was decided under the pilot; the 2026 Guangzhou–Foshan measures say which average wage to use | 4, 5 |
| Job on Guangzhou's shortage list (the case: a 3D animation designer) | B (December 2024 batch, case 1), under the pilot that took effect on 1 January 2023 | The case describes experience and education, not documents | The pilot's own text gives it a two-year trial; ask the window whether its standards still apply | 4 |
| Postdoctoral researcher under 40 | A (December 2024 batch, case 2), under the pilot | The reminder names the postdoctoral entry filing certificate "and other materials", and says the criminal record certificate may be covered by a commitment | Same pilot question | 4 |
| STEM PhD from a top-200 university within 5 years, under 40 | A (December 2024 batch, case 4), under the pilot | The case describes age, degree and ranking, not documents | Same pilot question; age, degree, ranking, graduation date, field "and so on" must all be met at once | 4 |
| B-category holder turning 60 at renewal | Renewed as A (2023 batch, case 1), as the legal representative of a small foreign-invested company in the encouraged catalogue, under the pilot | The bureau checked the company's business scope and proof that it is a small enterprise; the reminder asks for headcount proof and the previous year's audit report | The 2026 Guangzhou–Foshan measures set the B age limit by China's statutory retirement age; the guide asks for proof that the employer bought commercial accident and medical insurance for applicants aged 60 or over | 4 |
| Professional holding a foreign certificate (the case: CPA Australia, as finance manager) | Approved (2023 batch, case 2); the case does not name the category in its decision, and its analysis discusses B | The CPA membership certificate | Guangzhou's guide says a foreign professional qualification certificate must be authenticated or notarised; the case summary does not mention that step | 7 |
| Someone says they can get you a work (Z) visa "without any materials" | Forged notice (batch of 4 September 2024) | A notice carrying another person's application number and employer | Fines, and in serious cases detention, under Article 73 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law; an employer that takes part is fined, and its responsible staff are punished the same way | 6 |
| Every row | The result in your own file is decided by the work-permit authority | The guide lets the authority ask for other materials | Guangzhou foreign-worker service window, 4/F, 155 Jiefang South Road, Yuexiu; hotline 020-12345 | 2 |
Rows 6 to 9, and the December 2024 case in row 5, rest on a pilot whose own text gives it two years from 1 January 2023 (section 4). If your current permit was itself granted under that pilot, ask the window before your renewal date whether the same standard will be applied at renewal.
2. What these cases are, and what they leave out
The 2023 batch says why the cases exist: a Guangzhou legal-education directive asks every municipal department with law-enforcement powers to publish typical cases at least once a year, at least two cases each time. Our reading is that they are summaries written by the two bureaus, not copies of the files.
That has three consequences for anyone using them as a checklist:
- The document lists are open. Where a case lists documents it usually ends with "and other materials" (等材料). The standard list for each category is in the Guangzhou application guide, and the guide also says the authority may ask the employer for other materials.
- Several cases do not list documents at all. The points case, the shortage-list case and the top-200 PhD case describe the applicant's profile and the standard met, then stop.
- Eleven of the twelve city cases are approvals. The only failure on the page is the forged notice. Nothing here tells you how often a file in your situation is not approved, or how long it took.
3. Four routes in the 2025 batch, read line by line
The 24 December 2025 batch is the most recent and the most detailed.
The foreign graduate of a Chinese university (B). The analysis lists five conditions from a 2017 national notice on hiring outstanding foreign graduates: a master's degree or higher from a well-known overseas university or a Chinese university, obtained within one year; no criminal record; an average grade of 80 or more out of 100 ("other grading systems converted to a 100-point scale") or B+/B or above on a letter scale, with no misconduct while studying; the corresponding academic qualification and degree; and a confirmed employer, a job that matches the major, and pay "in principle" not below the local average urban wage. A separate Guangzhou talent-services reform pilot (not the one in section 4) then waives the usual two years of work experience for these graduates "with a confirmed employer"; the Guangzhou–Foshan measures of February 2026 repeat the same waiver in their item 1. The reminder puts half the burden on the employer: the 30-day job advert through the local public employment and talent service agency, and the pay floor, are the company's conditions, not the applicant's. The case does not say who converts a non-100-point transcript; ask the window before you submit.
The French intern (C). The conditions come from the China–France agreement on the 1,000 interns programme. Among them: an adult under 30; either a student at a French higher-education institution with at least two years completed, or a graduate of less than a year; an internship of at least 3 and no more than 6 months, with no employee status at the same time; no criminal record; good health; a valid passport or equivalent international travel document; and a confirmed host in Guangzhou. The reminder adds two documents the case summary did not list: a criminal record certificate from the home country and international medical insurance for the internship period (the civil liability insurance was already in the file). This permit lasts at most 6 months and cannot be extended; an intern who wants to stay on applies again under another route.
The points case (A). The applicant scored 76 under the national points table (salary, education, years of experience, annual working time, Chinese ability, age, graduation from a high-level overseas university, and so on) and received a 10-point Guangdong bonus for a degree from one of China's "Double First-Class" or high-level universities, for 86 in total. The applicant had once held Chinese nationality, was aged 26 to 45, had 10 years of relevant experience, held a bachelor's from a high-level overseas university and a master's from a Chinese "Double First-Class" university, and earned 70,000 to 150,000 yuan a year. Our reading: that salary is far below the 6-times line in section 4, so the A category here came from the points. The reminder says 60 points or more can apply for B and 85 or more for A.
The senior manager at a large company (A). For an industrial company the analysis requires 1,000 or more employees and revenue of 400 million yuan or more, together, plus a job that really is senior management. The reminder spells out the trap: the company size thresholds are set per industry, a company must meet the lower bounds of the staff-count or asset test, the revenue test and the other indicators together, and "if it cannot meet both, it drops one tier". The applicant's role needs its own supporting evidence.
4. The pilot, the 2026 measures, and three wordings of "6 times the average wage"
Five of the cases were approved under a pilot authorised by the General Offices of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security: all four in the December 2024 batch and case 1 of 2023. It let Guangzhou widen the A and B categories. The bureau's implementing notice of February 2023 says the A-category standard was "adjusted to" a Guangzhou Standard for Identifying Foreign "High-end, Precision and Cutting-edge" Talent (Trial), and that a Guangzhou Catalogue of Foreign "Urgently Needed and Scarce" Talent Positions (Trial) was added to the B-category standard. Item 3 of the ministries' notice reads, in full (one sentence in the Chinese original):
广州市外籍“高精尖缺”人才认定标准试点工作自2023年1月1日起实施，试行2年。
In English: the pilot "takes effect from 1 January 2023 for a trial period of 2 years". The next paragraph says the two ministries will evaluate the pilot and roll out the measures that work more widely. On paper the trial runs to the end of 2024. On 16 October 2026 we read the titles on all three pages of the bureau's work-permit column, and the full text of its two 2026 items (the Guangzhou–Foshan measures and a June 2026 policy briefing notice); none of them extends or ends the pilot, and neither 2026 item mentions it. What we did see:
- The bureau's wage notice of 30 December 2024 still cites the pilot, together with a 2024 Guangdong provincial pilot plan (粤科专字〔2024〕219号), and sets the Guangzhou wage benchmark at 110,004 yuan a year (9,167 yuan a month) "from the date of this notice". That is the latest wage notice in the column, and the column carries one for each year from 2019 to 2024, so check on the day you file whether a newer figure applies. We have not read the provincial plan itself. On that notice's figure, 6 times (the A test) is 660,024 yuan a year and 4 times (the B test) is 440,016 yuan; this is our arithmetic.
- The December 2024 batch applies the pilot standards to all four of its cases.
- The December 2025 batch does not mention this pilot. Its A-category cases cite the 2017 national classification standard.
The "6 times" route shows the difference in its wording. The same template, with the same document list and nearly the same reminder, appears in three published cases:
| Published | By | The wage test as worded in the case |
|---|---|---|
| 23 December 2024 | Huangpu District | 6 times "the local average social wage of the previous year", under the 2017 national standard |
| 31 December 2024 | City bureau | 6 times "the average wage of all urban employees in the region in the previous year", under the pilot standard |
| 24 December 2025 | City bureau | 6 times "the city's average social wage of the previous year" (case text), under the 2017 national standard |
The two city cases say the figure to use is the one in the Guangzhou wage benchmark for that year; the Huangpu case does not say. A later document settles the wording for both cities. The Measures to Deepen Guangzhou–Foshan Integration and Facilitate Foreign Talent Working in China, issued by the Guangzhou and Foshan science and technology bureaus on 3 February 2026 and valid for two years from issue, say in item 2 that for the 6-times and 4-times tests, the previous year's average social wage means the previous year's average wage of all urban employees in Guangdong Province, as published by the provincial human resources and social security department. The 9,167 yuan a month in the December 2024 notice is that provincial figure for 2023. Which year's provincial figure applies on the day you file, and what it is, ask the window; we do not decide that for the bureau.
Item 1 of the same measures also says an A-category application is not subject to an age limit, and the B-category upper age limit follows China's statutory retirement age. The 2023 case of the B holder turning 60 relied on the pilot to move to A; how the age line is drawn for your renewal today, ask the window.
5. The 6-times route has a bill at renewal
In the A-category cases that rest on salary, the applicant made a written commitment about the highest degree and the criminal record instead of submitting them; the 2017 national service guide says those documents "may" be covered by a commitment for this kind of applicant. The 2025 reminder is two sentences in the Chinese original:
在此提醒，由于申请人以劳动合同上的薪酬作为承诺达到外国人来华工作许可A类条件的主要佐证材料，在申请人办理外国人来华工作许可延期时需提供个人完税证明，证明申请人已按照劳动合同上载明的薪酬标准依法缴纳个人所得税。如延期时未能提供有关完税证明，将影响申请人再次办理外国人来华工作许可。
In English: because the contract salary is the main evidence for the A category, at renewal the applicant must provide individual income tax payment certificates showing that tax was paid according to law on the salary stated in the contract; failing to provide them "will affect" the next work permit application. The December 2024 city case and the Huangpu case carry nearly the same reminder.
For an HR team this is the most practical line in the whole set. If the contract states a salary at A level and tax is not actually paid on that salary, the matching tax certificates will not exist at renewal. Our reading, not the bureau's: make sure the salary written in the contract is the salary on which individual income tax will actually be paid.
6. The forged notice
The 4 September 2024 case: a foreign national took a Notice of Work Permit for Foreigners to a Chinese embassy to apply for a work (Z) visa. The name and passport number on the notice did not match the work-permit data in the visa system. The applicant had never applied in the work-permit system; the notice carried the application number and employer of a different person. The bureau calls it forged.
The analysis cites Article 21 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law (no visa for anyone who commits fraud in the application) and Article 73: a fine of 2,000 to 5,000 yuan for obtaining a visa or residence document by fraud, and in serious cases 10 to 15 days' detention plus a fine of 5,000 to 20,000 yuan; an employer that takes part is fined 10,000 to 50,000 yuan, and the people directly responsible are punished in the same way as the individual. The case also sets out the normal sequence for an applicant outside China: the employer applies online before entry; the approval information is passed to the embassy or consulate and is valid for 3 months, and a visa not applied for in time, or a wrong visa location on the application, means no Z visa; after entry the work permit is applied for within 15 days and the work-type residence permit within 30 days at the public security authority. The bureau's warning is direct: do not believe anyone who says a Z visa can be arranged without any materials, and do not sell a notice or use it to help someone else enter illegally.
7. Which documents are foreign-language, and what Guangzhou asks for
Our reading across the cases: the documents most likely to be in a language other than Chinese are a degree certificate and transcript from abroad, a criminal record certificate, work experience certificates from previous employers, professional certificates such as the CPA Australia membership, and the French intern's agreement and insurance papers. Documents issued in China, such as the postdoctoral filing certificate and tax payment certificates, are in Chinese.
For non-Chinese documents, note 5 to Table 1 of the Guangzhou application guide says, in the official English (two sentences; the Chinese original is also two):
- 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.
The rule covers every non-Chinese document except the passport. Elsewhere, in its general rules on materials, the same guide names only a translation issued by a notary office in China; ask the window which it applies to your file. Two more lines in the guide matter for these cases. A highest degree obtained abroad must be authenticated (by a Chinese embassy or consulate abroad, by the issuing country's embassy or consulate in China, or by a Chinese qualification verification body), and a foreign professional qualification certificate must be authenticated or notarised. The CPA case says nothing about either step, which is one more reason not to treat a case summary as a list. The guide is the 2020 revision, which predates the Apostille Convention taking effect for China on 7 November 2023; for documents from a Convention state an apostille takes the place of consular legalisation, and the guide itself does not say so, so confirm with the window. Where a commitment replaces a document, the guide says an A-category commitment letter must agree that the authority may investigate further and ask for supporting material. We have compared the translation and seal rules of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and the national guide in China Work Permit: Does an Apostille Replace the Translation, and Whose Seal Does It Need?, and the three ways to verify a foreign degree in Three routes to “degree authentication” for a China work permit — and Guangzhou and Shenzhen do not ask for the same one.
8. Where we fit
We translate the foreign-language documents that appear in these cases: degree certificates, transcripts, criminal record certificates, work experience certificates and professional certificates. In Guangzhou the guide asks for a translation issued by a notary office or authenticated by an embassy or consulate, so a translation carrying only a translation company's seal does not meet its wording. What we can do is the step before that: translate the document accurately, keep the layout aligned with the original, and hand it to the notary office, which accepts or rejects it under its own procedure. You can also prepare the draft yourself. We do not judge which category your file belongs to, and we do not file applications.
To ask about a document, use WhatsApp +86 139 2416 6640 (WeChat ID Saralee93), or our contact page.
9. Sources
- Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, typical work-permit cases: 24 December 2025, 31 December 2024, 4 September 2024, 21 November 2023 (the 2023 cases are in the attached PDF).
- Huangpu District Science and Technology Bureau, legal education typical case 2: work permit, 23 December 2024.
- General Offices of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, 国科办才〔2022〕181号, attached to the bureau's notice of 9 February 2023.
- Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, 2024 wage benchmark for work permits, 30 December 2024.
- Guangzhou and Foshan Science and Technology Bureaus, Guangzhou–Foshan measures for foreign talent, issued 3 February 2026, posted 27 February 2026.
- Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, relocation of the foreign-worker service window, 19 September 2025 (Chinese and English on the same page).
- Guangzhou Guide to Applying for Work Permits for Foreigners, posted in the bureau's column as the 2020 revision, Chinese and English.
