(Promulgated by Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Foreign Affaires, and Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation on January 22, 1996)

Article 2 The foreigners as referred to in these Regulations refer to persons who do not have Chinese nationality as stipulated in the Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China. The term of employment of foreigners in China as used in these Regulations refers to the behavior of engaging in social labor and receiving remunerations in accordance with the law by foreigners who have not obtained permits to reside in China.

Article 3 These Regulations are applicable to foreigners working inside China and units employing foreigners. These regulations are not applicable to persons enjoying diplomatic privilege and immunity, such as those working in foreign embassies and consulates in China, UN representative offices in China, and other international organizations stationed in China.

Article 5 Units that employ foreigners shall apply for employment permission for these foreigners and shall employ foreigners only after obtaining Certificates of the People's Republic of China Permitting the Employment of Foreigner (hereinafter referred to as certificates of permission).

Article 8 Foreigners seeking employment in China shall enter China on the strength of occupation visas (or in line with agreements on mutual exemption of visas if such agreements have been reached ) and can get employed only after obtaining Employment Certificates for Foreigners (hereinafter referred to employment certificates) and residential documents for foreigners. Certificates of permission and employment certificates shall be prepared by the Ministry of Labor in a unified way.

Article 12 After approval by departments in charge of respective trades, employer units shall go through verification procedures with labor administrations at the provincial, autonomous regional and municipal level or with authorized labor administrations at the prefectural level at their locations, carrying with them the application forms. Labor administrations at the provincial, autonomous regional and municipal level or authorized labor administrations at the prefectural level shall appoint special organs (hereinafter referred to as certificate issuing departments) to take specific charge of the work of the signing and issuance of certificates. Certificate issuers shall carry out verification according to the opinions put forward by departments in charge of respective trades and the supply and demand situation at the labor market, and issue certificates of permission the employer units after verification.