Work-study hours for international students in China: 8 a week and 40 a month in term, double in the holidays

How many hours may you work

During term, work-study on or off campus is, in principle, capped at 8 hours a week and 40 hours a month. In the winter and summer holidays the caps double, to 16 hours a week and 80 hours a month. These four figures come from Article 5 of the Measures for the Administration of Work-Study by International Students at Higher Education Institutions (notice 教外厅〔2021〕2号). The measures are published in Chinese; the English wording on this page is this site's translation, and the qualifier "in principle" (原则上) is kept because the Chinese text uses it at both caps.

Period	Weekly limit (in principle)	Monthly limit (in principle)
Term time, on or off campus	8 hours	40 hours
Winter and summer holidays	16 hours	80 hours

A 2021 notice sets these ceilings, and it took effect on the date of issue (Article 17); the notice is dated 29 December 2021.

Who the measures cover, and whose rules decide the details

The measures apply to higher education institutions that provide degree education (Article 2). They define work-study as activity organised and managed by your school, carried out outside class hours, paid lawfully, and intended to improve your study and living conditions; internships and social practice arranged by the school under its teaching plan are excluded (Article 3).

Activities run under the school's overall leadership and coordination, on the principles of having spare capacity after study, applying voluntarily, giving priority to students in financial need, and observing the law. Each school must adopt its own implementing rules setting out its specific arrangements and the responsibilities of the internal departments involved (Article 4). Provincial education authorities, together with local public security, immigration and human resources departments, coordinate and supervise work-study in their region, and manage the range of permitted posts dynamically (Article 15). Because of this, your own school's implementing rules decide how the caps operate in practice; the national text supplies the ceiling, not the permission.

The measures define neither "in principle" nor how it is applied. They also do not say how a "month" is counted, whether unused hours carry from one week into the next, or how a school must verify hours worked. On those points the measures are silent.

What happens if you work beyond the limits

Working beyond the scope of the post or beyond the prescribed time limit is handled by the public security organ's exit-entry administration according to law (Article 14). The Exit and Entry Administration Law separately classes as unlawful employment the case of a foreign student who works in violation of the work-study administration regulations and beyond the prescribed scope of posts or prescribed time limit (Law, Article 43(3)). The same Law assigns the education department under the State Council, together with other departments, to establish that administrative system and to set both the range of jobs and the limit on work time (Law, Article 42).

Questions people ask

Does every international student fall under these caps?

The measures apply to students at higher education institutions providing degree education (Article 2). They do not extend the caps to every school category, and they say nothing about non-degree or language programmes.

Do on-campus and off-campus jobs have different limits?

No. Article 5 sets one weekly and one monthly figure for both ("校内外勤工助学"), doubled across the winter and summer holidays. Any difference in your case would come from your school's implementing rules, not from the national text.

Is an internship counted as work-study?

Not when the school organises it under its teaching plan. Article 3 excludes teaching internships and social practice arranged by the school from the definition of work-study.

Sources

• Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People's Republic of China — National Immigration Administration (English text)
• Measures for the Administration of Work-Study by International Students at Higher Education Institutions (高等学校国际学生勤工助学管理办法), 教外厅〔2021〕2号 — Ministry of Education (General Office), with the General Offices of the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the General Department of the National Immigration Administration (Chinese text)

Checked 11 October 2026 (the Measures page was last checked on 10 October 2026).

This page is an unofficial summary, is not legal or immigration advice, and is not published by the bodies named above; where anything here differs from the official text or from the instructions of the exit-entry office or visa office handling your case, that official text and those instructions prevail.