Internships for international students in China: course internships and off-campus placements

Yes — international students in China can do internships, but the official texts treat two different situations, and only one of them carries a residence-permit step. A teaching internship or social practice that your university organises under its teaching plan is part of your studies: the 2021 work-study measures expressly leave it out of "work-study" (Article 3). An internship outside the school is different — under Regulations Article 22 you need your school's approval and a remark on your residence permit giving the location and duration, and until that remark is there you may not take the placement.

Three of the documents used here are published in Chinese — Ministry of Education Order No. 42, the 2021 work-study measures and the National Immigration Administration's service guide on residence permits. The English wording for those three is this site's own translation of the Chinese text; the Regulations and the Administration's English residence-permit page are quoted from its own English pages.

The two categories side by side

	Teaching internship / social practice under the teaching plan	Internship outside the school
Where it comes from	The school organises it under its teaching plan (Order No. 42, Article 20)	An arrangement with an internship unit outside the school
Is it "work-study"?	No — expressly excluded (2021 work-study measures, Article 3)	Treated together with off-campus work-study in the residence-permit rules (Regulations, Article 22)
Residence-permit step	The texts set out none for this category	School approval, then a remark on the residence permit giving location and duration (Regulations, Article 22; NIA service guides)

What Order No. 42 says

Article 20 of the Measures for the Administration of Schools Recruiting and Educating International Students (Order No. 42) provides that higher education institutions organise international students to take part in teaching internships and social practice in accordance with the teaching plan, and that the places chosen for the internship or practice must comply with the relevant provisions of the State. Chapters 2 to 5 of the Order, which include this article, apply to higher education institutions (Article 2).

So the deciding feature is the teaching plan. If the school is running the placement as part of what it teaches you, Article 20 is the provision that covers it, and the state's rules on where such activity may take place apply to the choice of location.

Why that is not "work-study"

The Measures for the Administration of Work-Study by International Students at Higher Education Institutions (notice 教外厅〔2021〕2号, dated 29 December 2021) apply to higher education institutions providing degree education (Article 2). Article 3 defines work-study as practical activity in which international students, under the organisation and management of the school, use time outside class to earn lawful remuneration through work, in order to improve their study and living conditions. The same article then states that work-study does not include teaching internships and social practice that the school organises under its teaching plan.

That exclusion is why the two categories should not be mixed up: the rules written for work-study are not the rules that govern a course internship.

What an off-campus internship requires

Regulations Article 22 (Regulations on Administration of the Entry and Exit of Foreigners, State Council Decree No. 637) has two paragraphs:

• 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 the location and duration of the placement specified in the residence permit.
• Such a foreigner may not engage in off-campus work-study or internship unless that information is specified in the residence permit.

The National Immigration Administration's Chinese service guide for residence permits says the same thing from the application side: a holder of a student-type residence permit who needs to do work-study or an internship outside the school submits letters issued by the school and by the internship unit giving their agreement to the work-study or the off-campus internship, and applies to the exit and entry administration department of the public security organ for a remark on the residence permit. The Administration's English page states it in the same terms — with the school's approval, apply for remarks on the residence permit indicating the location and duration, and without the required remarks the holder is not allowed to work or take an internship outside the school.

So for an off-campus internship you need three things to line up: the school's approval, letters from the school and from the internship unit, and the remark actually added to the residence permit before you start.

The gap the texts do not close

The texts do not say whether a teaching internship organised under the teaching plan, but carried out at a location off campus, also needs the remark under Regulations Article 22. Order No. 42 Article 20 covers the school's organisation and the choice of location, and Regulations Article 22 covers off-campus internships, but neither text states how the two meet in that case. Ask your school and the exit-entry office that handles your case; each school also makes its own implementing rules (Article 4 of the work-study measures), so the school's rules decide the details.

Questions people ask

Does a teaching internship under my programme count as work-study?

No. Article 3 of the 2021 work-study measures excludes teaching internships and social practice that the school organises under its teaching plan from the definition of work-study.

Can I begin an off-campus internship before the remark is added?

No. The second paragraph of Regulations Article 22 prohibits off-campus work-study or internship unless the location and duration are specified in the residence permit, and the Administration's English page says the same.

Which documents does the exit-entry office ask for?

The National Immigration Administration's service guide lists letters issued by the school and by the internship unit giving their agreement to the off-campus internship, submitted with the application for the remark.

Who decides the details at my school?

Each school makes its own implementing rules under Article 4 of the work-study measures, so your school's rules govern the details, alongside Order No. 42 and the exit-entry office that handles your case.

Sources

• Measures for the Administration of Schools Recruiting and Educating International Students (Order No. 42) — Ministry of Education, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security
• Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Administration of the Entry and Exit of Foreigners — National Immigration Administration
• Service guide for issuing, extending, replacing and reissuing foreigners' residence permits — National Immigration Administration
• Measures for the Administration of Work-Study by International Students at Higher Education Institutions (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
• Service Guide on residence permits for foreigners — National Immigration Administration (en.nia.gov.cn)

Checked 11 October 2026

This page is an unofficial summary: it is not legal or immigration advice, it is not published by any of the bodies named above, and if the official text or the instructions of the visa office or exit-entry office handling your case differ from what is written here, the official text and those instructions prevail.