Can international students work while studying in China?
Partly. Article 30 of Order No. 42 says international students may take part in work-study while studying at a higher education institution, but must not take up employment, do business or engage in other profit-making activities. Off-campus work-study also has to meet the conditions in the Work-Study Measures, and the work must be recorded on your residence permit under the Regulations.
Order No. 42 and the Work-Study Measures are Chinese texts. The English wording on this page is this site's translation. The Regulations are cited from the English text published by the National Immigration Administration.
What the rule says
Order No. 42, Article 30, first paragraph: international students may take part in work-study during their studies at higher education institutions, but must not take up employment, do business or engage in other profit-making activities.
Order No. 42, Article 30, second paragraph: the specific rules for international students' work-study are to be formulated separately by the education administration department of the State Council together with relevant departments.
Article 30 gives no hour limit and no pay figure. The hour limits are in Article 5 of the Work-Study Measures.
What counts as work-study
The Work-Study Measures (notice 教外厅〔2021〕2号) apply to schools that implement academic higher education (Article 2).
Article 3 defines work-study as activity that international students do under the school's organisation and management, using spare time, to earn lawful pay that improves their study and living conditions. Article 3 excludes teaching internships and social practice that the school organises under its teaching plan.
Article 1 says the Measures were formulated under several laws and regulations, including Order No. 42.
Hours
Article 5 applies to both on-campus and off-campus work-study:
| Period | Per week | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| General rule (Article 5, first sentence) | In principle no more than 8 hours | In principle no more than 40 hours |
| Winter and summer holidays (Article 5, second sentence) | In principle no more than 16 hours | In principle no more than 80 hours |
"In principle" is the wording of Article 5. The article does not set these figures as absolute caps.
On-campus posts
Article 7 says on-campus posts should mainly be teaching assistants, research assistants, administrative assistants and school public service posts.
Article 7 also says post design must meet student needs and avoid taking up normal study time.
Article 7 says the school arranges the pay for on-campus work-study.
Article 6 says the school must not arrange or authorise students to take part in hazardous or dangerous production work. It also says the school must ensure that international students doing work-study hold insurance covering that work.
Off-campus conditions
Article 9 says international students doing off-campus work-study must meet the following six conditions:
- Be aged 18 or over, and meet the physical requirements of the work post.
- Hold a valid study-type residence permit in China, with remaining validity of six months or more.
- Abide by Chinese laws, regulations and school rules, have good conduct and behaviour, and have no record of unlawful or criminal acts and no breach of rules or discipline.
- Have studied continuously at the current school for one year or more as undergraduate students, junior-college (associate-level) students, graduate students, advanced students or research scholars.
- Meet the school's requirements for academic progress and attendance.
- Meet any other conditions the school sets.
Item 1 gives no upper age limit.
Agreement and filing
Article 10 says the student must submit a copy of the agreement signed with the employer to the school for filing. The student must also submit a unilateral letter of undertaking covering matters such as risk.
Residence permit endorsement
Article 11, first paragraph: to work off campus, the student holds the agreement, the school's certification letter and related materials. Within ten days, the student applies to the exit and entry administration of the public security organ where the school is located, to have the work unit, the period and related information endorsed on the residence permit. A student holding a residence permit without this endorsement must not do off-campus work-study.
Regulations, Article 22, first paragraph (English text as published): a foreigner holding a residence permit for study who intends to engage in off-campus work-study or internship shall, upon the approval of the school, apply to the exit and entry administration authority of the public security organ to have such information as the location and duration of the work-study program or internship placement specified in his or her residence permit.
Regulations, Article 22, second paragraph (English text as published): a foreigner holding a residence permit for study shall not engage in any off-campus work-study or internship unless the information prescribed in the preceding paragraph is specified in his or her residence permit.
Article 11 sets three separate ten-day duties:
- Article 11, second paragraph: when the employer or period changes, the student submits the new agreement and the school's certification letter, and applies to change the endorsement within ten days.
- Article 11, third paragraph: when the work ends because the employer ends the agreement, the student submits a written report to the school within ten days.
- Article 11, third paragraph, continued: the student also handles the change to the endorsement with the public security exit and entry administration in the same paragraph.
Area, period and breaches
Article 12 limits off-campus work-study to the prefecture-level city area in which the school is located.
Article 12 says each application period must not exceed the validity of the study residence permit, and must be no more than one year at most.
Article 14 says that if work-study goes beyond the post scope or the time limits, the public security exit and entry administration authority handles the case according to law. Article 14 states no amount of penalty.
Suggestion, not a rule
Before you start any off-campus job, check that your residence permit already shows the employer and the period. This is a planning suggestion. It is not stated as a requirement in any of the texts above.
Sources
- Measures for the Administration of Schools Recruiting and Educating International Students (Order No. 42), Ministry of Education of the PRC
- Measures for the Administration of Work-Study by International Students at Higher Education Institutions, Ministry of Education of the PRC
- Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Administration of the Entry and Exit of Foreigners, National Immigration Administration
Checked 11 October 2026
This page is an unofficial summary. It is not published by or affiliated with the Ministry of Education, the China Scholarship Council or any university, and it is not legal advice. The official text and the current notice of the university or authority handling your case prevail if they differ.