Remote work in China

Working remotely on visitor status

Law does not say clearly for remote work

State Council rules bar tourist (L) visa holders from working in China, and the Exit-Entry Law requires a work permit for work. Visa-free entry covers business, tourism and similar purposes. Remote work for a foreign employer is not expressly addressed in the sources read.

• NIA, Rules for the Administration of Employment of Foreigners, Art. 8
• Exit-Entry Administration Law, Arts. 37, 41, 80 (Shenzhen government English copy)
• NIA, unilateral visa exemption (30-day stays; purposes listed)

The route for remote workers

No dedicated remote-work route was found in the official sources checked.

Social security

EU/EEA coordination (A1)

No

US totalization agreement

No

China is not on SSA's in-force list. Chinese law requires foreigners employed in China to join its social insurance. A short-term remote worker's duty to contribute was not established.

• SSA POMS GN 01701.005, agreements in force
• Ministry of Justice, social insurance for foreign employees (seen via search extract only)

How these arrangements work in general is on the guide page.

What we could not verify

• No official source found that addresses remote work for a foreign employer from China. The position rests on the general tourist-visa work bar and the work-permit rule.
• Searched for a remote-worker or digital-nomad visa and found none from an official source; absence not proven.
• The Social Insurance Law Art. 97 and Ministry of Justice page were not opened directly.
• The NIA rules page is the 1996 rules as amended in 2017 and may have been superseded.