Quoting from [germex]:

The topic "jobs in China" made me think in the other option: self-employed in China.

In the past I have been a language teacher. Part of it was as an employee, while later I was working on my own. And I must say that this was much more rewarding. It's not just that you make more money; it's also because people hold you in higher esteem and you are free to use your time as you like. So maybe this person who is looking for a job should think in the option of working on his own.

Question is, would that be legally possible in China? If yes, what would he have to do? What kind of visa would he need? Or what if he wants to be a trader in China? If for example his brother (or any other family member) did the buying in his home country, he would do the selling in China. - And of course there are many more options.

Please discuss!

hi,mate.I have a foreigner friend comes from egypt,and he has been doing his own business in China,but i heard from him that he must gotta HK to prolong his visa every six months.Then came back again,recycling visa.

Regarding the details,i am not sure.Why not make a detailed inquiry from your embassy or China embassy in ur country.

Frankly speaking,i am also curious what process for immegration or working overseas???

Best regards,

wendy 

Wendy just for the record and so that there is no confusion here your friend is most likely present on a business (F) visa. This visa gives him the right to be in the country for up to six months at a time doing business here, but does not give him the right to work in China and earn money here. So if he is running his own business in China then he is technically working illegally. Lots of foreigners do this so I am not having a go at him, but for the record it is illegal.

The only way that he could have legal status to be living and running his own business in China is if he were here on a Resident (Z) visa which is a year long visa. The fact that he is going to HK for renewals each six months indicates that he does not have a Z visa and therefore is not working here legally.

So in relation to the question about being self employed in China - from a legal point of view - the only possibility is a one year Z visa.

Quoting from [Egernia]:

No it is not really possible for a foreigner to be self-employed in China unless he/she invests in starting a representative office or establishing some other legal business identity i.e. investing money into China.

L visas are for visitors but do not allow work.

F visas are for business people but are a maximum of six months in duration and do not allow income to be earned locally.

Z visas are for long term foreign residents here for the purposes of work and these are obtained via sponsorship of the employer. Based upon the Z visa the holder can apply for a resident permit. Both of these rely upon the sponsorship of the employer and invalid for work outside of that employer.

So in the scenario you suggest the only possibility that I can see is for the individual to be in China on an F visa collecting a wage from the company back home. But then he/she technically could not teach English here as that would constitute working locally which is illegal under the F visa.

BUT HE COULD JUST INSPECT MERCHANDISE BEING PURCHASED BY AN OVERSEES PARTY......   THIS ACTIVITY WOULD NOT ATTRACT ATTENTION IF HE KEPT A LOW PROFILE

KENNEYH ANGEL ESQ

Quoting from [Egernia]:

No it is not really possible for a foreigner to be self-employed in China unless he/she invests in starting a representative office or establishing some other legal business identity i.e. investing money into China.

L visas are for visitors but do not allow work.

F visas are for business people but are a maximum of six months in duration and do not allow income to be earned locally.

Z visas are for long term foreign residents here for the purposes of work and these are obtained via sponsorship of the employer. Based upon the Z visa the holder can apply for a resident permit. Both of these rely upon the sponsorship of the employer and invalid for work outside of that employer.

So in the scenario you suggest the only possibility that I can see is for the individual to be in China on an F visa collecting a wage from the company back home. But then he/she technically could not teach English here as that would constitute working locally which is illegal under the F visa.

The other alternative would be to be employed under a Z visa and then to do trading work on the side but once again that would technically be illegal.

So you can see that China does not encourage foreign self employed peoples.

Kenneth the government of China is not naieve enough to assume that title makes a difference here. You can call yourself whatever you like but this does not change your status from illegal to legal.

The rules are simple. If the 'buyer' you are referring to is living in China and earning money to support themselves locally then the only legal visa status for them is  Z visa with residence permit. To get these documents that person would need sponsorship of a registered company in China Foreigners cannot sponsor themselves. 

So in this respect it is not possible for a foreigner to be self employed in China.

Quoting from [Egernia]:

Kenneth the government of China is not naieve enough to assume that title makes a difference here. You can call yourself whatever you like but this does not change your status from illegal to legal.

The rules are simple. If the 'buyer' you are referring to is living in China and earning money to support themselves locally then the only legal visa status for them is  Z visa with residence permit. To get these documents that person would need sponsorship of a registered company in China Foreigners cannot sponsor themselves. 

So in this respect it is not possible for a foreigner to be self employed in China.

No, I didn't mean he would live there permanently. A buyer certainly has  the right to fly in and take delivery of his merchandise personally. and as an attorney I have gone there to inspect aircraft my clients were buying, deliver the funds and fly the plane out.

Aircraft are all I have worked with but if my client was buying computers and the cost of travel from the states was prohibitive I have connections with Japanese Lawyers who could find a competent inspector in Hong Kong to travelin on a short term business visa to inspect the merchandise. You just have to be a legitimate agent and going in to buy. I never had any problems staying for a few weeks while they got the "bugs" we found out of a new plane. An agent could inspect merchandise and finalize transactions for several buyers in one two week trip

I always used a Japanese Law Firm as intermediaries but they had people from Hong Kong actually help me grt a translator and car (getting a Car was the hardest part)

Ken

Quoting from [beginning of dream]:

Quoting from [germex]:

The topic "jobs in China" made me think in the other option: self-employed in China.

In the past I have been a language teacher. Part of it was as an employee, while later I was working on my own. And I must say that this was much more rewarding. It's not just that you make more money; it's also because people hold you in higher esteem and you are free to use your time as you like. So maybe this person who is looking for a job should think in the option of working on his own.

Question is, would that be legally possible in China? If yes, what would he have to do? What kind of visa would he need? Or what if he wants to be a trader in China? If for example his brother (or any other family member) did the buying in his home country, he would do the selling in China. - And of course there are many more options.

Please discuss!

hi,mate.I have a foreigner friend comes from egypt,and he has been doing his own business in China,but i heard from him that he must gotta HK to prolong his visa every six months.Then came back again,recycling visa.

Regarding the details,i am not sure.Why not make a detailed inquiry from your embassy or China embassy in ur country.

Frankly speaking,i am also curious what process for immegration or working overseas???

Best regards,

wendy 

Quoting from [Egernia]:

Kenneth the government of China is not naieve enough to assume that title makes a difference here. You can call yourself whatever you like but this does not change your status from illegal to legal.

The rules are simple. If the 'buyer' you are referring to is living in China and earning money to support themselves locally then the only legal visa status for them is  Z visa with residence permit. To get these documents that person would need sponsorship of a registered company in China Foreigners cannot sponsor themselves. 

So in this respect it is not possible for a foreigner to be self employed in China.

You don't have to live there (who would want to) I stayed in Japan or Hong Kong and flew in with my own inspector and a translator from Hong Kong

Ken

Quoting from [germex]:

The topic "jobs in China" made me think in the other option: self-employed in China.

In the past I have been a language teacher. Part of it was as an employee, while later I was working on my own. And I must say that this was much more rewarding. It's not just that you make more money; it's also because people hold you in higher esteem and you are free to use your time as you like. So maybe this person who is looking for a job should think in the option of working on his own.

Question is, would that be legally possible in China? If yes, what would he have to do? What kind of visa would he need? Or what if he wants to be a trader in China? If for example his brother (or any other family member) did the buying in his home country, he would do the selling in China. - And of course there are many more options.

Please discuss!

Dear Sirs,

I am looking for a job in China. I am in marketing & sales since long time  in household appliances.