Who may take an off-campus work-study job in China: the six conditions

You qualify for off-campus work-study only if you meet six conditions at the same time. They are listed in Article 9 of the Measures for the Administration of Work-Study by International Students at Higher Education Institutions (notice 教外厅〔2021〕2号), and they cover your age and fitness, your residence permit, your conduct record, how long you have studied at your current school, your academic progress and attendance, and any further conditions your school sets. Meeting all six does not by itself place you in a job: the school also has duties of its own under Article 6, and it can cancel eligibility later under Article 13.

The measures are published in Chinese. The English wording on this page is this site's translation of that Chinese text.

What work-study means in this notice

Article 3 defines work-study as activity organised and managed by the school, carried out in time outside class, through which an international student earns lawful pay to improve study and living conditions. The same article excludes teaching internships and social practice that the school arranges under its teaching plan, so those are not work-study under this notice.

The six conditions, one by one

No.	What Article 9 requires	In plain words
1	Aged 18 or over, and meeting the physical conditions the post requires	You must be an adult and physically able to do that particular job
2	Holding a valid study-type residence permit in China, with six months or more of remaining validity	Your residence permit must be a study one, still valid, and not close to expiring
3	Complying with Chinese laws, regulations and school rules; of good conduct and performance; no record of crime and no record of violating laws or discipline	A clean record under both Chinese law and your school's rules
4	A degree student, postgraduate, advanced student or research scholar who has studied at the current school continuously for more than one year	At least one unbroken year at the school you are at now
5	Academic progress and attendance meeting the school's requirements	Your school's own thresholds for progress and attendance
6	Other conditions the school sets	Anything extra your school adds in its own rules

Two points follow from the way the list is written. All six apply together; the notice does not offer a way to substitute one for another. And conditions 5 and 6 are set by your school, not by the notice, so the place to read the exact numbers and documents is your school's own rules.

Two limits that apply even if you qualify

Article 6 places two duties on the school. It must not arrange or authorise students to take part in toxic, harmful or dangerous production work. It must also ensure that an international student doing work-study has bought insurance that covers the work-study activity.

Article 6 does not name an insurance product, a minimum level of cover, or who bears the cost, and no other article of the notice deals with insurance.

When the school cancels your eligibility

Under Article 13, the school shall cancel an international student's work-study eligibility, and promptly report the cancellation to the exit-entry administration department of the public security organ, in any of these cases:

1. The student has completed studies, or has discontinued studies, suspended studies or withdrawn.
2. The student has violated national laws or regulations, or the school's relevant management rules.
3. The student's moral conduct is poor, or the student has violated public order and good customs and caused adverse effects.
4. Other circumstances the school finds make continuation unsuitable, including work-study affecting the student's studies.

Cancellation here is a school decision with a reporting duty attached. Article 13 does not set a review period or an appeal route, and this page does not supply one.

What the notice leaves to the school, and what it rests on

Article 2 sets the scope: the measures apply to higher education institutions that provide degree education. Article 4 requires each school to make its own implementing rules, which is why the details that matter to you — attendance thresholds, the conditions under item 6, and how a post is approved — are found in your school's rules rather than in the notice.

Article 1 lists the instruments the measures are made under: the Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People's Republic of China, the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of the Entry and Exit of Foreigners, the Provisions on the Management of Students of Regular Institutions of Higher Education, and the Measures for the Administration of the Enrolment and Training of International Students by Schools.

The notice is dated 29 December 2021 and was published on the Ministry of Education website on 12 January 2022; Article 17 provides that the measures apply from the date of issue.

This page does not describe how a work-study post is recorded with the school or the exit-entry administration. That step is separate; see work and changes.

Questions people ask

Do I have to be 18, or is there an exception?

Article 9(1) requires you to be 18 or over and to meet the physical conditions the post requires. The notice states no exception to the age condition.

My residence permit has five months left. Do I qualify?

No, not on the text of Article 9(2), which requires a valid study-type residence permit with six months or more of remaining validity. Renewing the permit is a separate matter from the work-study conditions.

I am in my first semester. Can I apply?

Article 9(4) requires continuous study at your current school for more than one year, and it limits the categories to degree students, postgraduates, advanced students and research scholars. A student in a first semester does not meet the one-year condition.

Does the internship my programme requires count as work-study?

No. Article 3 excludes teaching internships and social practice that the school organises under its teaching plan.

Can the school assign me to hazardous work?

Article 6 says the school must not arrange or authorise students to take part in toxic, harmful or dangerous production work.

What if the job starts to hurt my studies?

Article 13(4) treats work-study affecting studies as a circumstance the school can rely on to cancel eligibility, and the school must then report to the exit-entry administration department of the public security organ.

Sources

• Measures for the Administration of Work-Study by International Students at Higher Education Institutions (notice 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

Checked 10 October 2026

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