Official sources checked: · see each source and its date

China sorts foreign employees into category A (high-end talent), B (professional talent) and C (other foreign staff). One way into A or B is a points score above 85 for A or above 60 for B (85 分以上, 60 分以上; exactly 85 or 60 is unsettled). The tool also runs Shenzhen's two salary tests.

As written in your contract. The published documents do not say whether this is before or after tax, or which bonuses count.

Master's degree, or technician

Experience related to the job offered, proved by former employers. A part-year shows as a range, because the table has no rule for it.

From 0 to 12.

No published document says on which date age is counted.

Additional qualifications: one counts, 5 points

Applies to employers established in Guangdong, up to 10 points. Its 5-year validity ends in early November 2026.

From 6 January 2025 to 31 December 2027. The Guangdong bonus and the minimum wage depend on this date.

The estimate appears here once JavaScript runs. The points table below works without it.

An estimate of the published table, not a decision

The provincial-level foreign-worker authority, or a local office it authorises, decides your category on the documents your employer submits. This tool assumes that your documents will prove what you enter. It leaves out the other routes into categories A and B (talent programmes, recognised achievements, encouraged posts, skills certificates, language teaching), the general conditions every applicant must meet, quotas and document checks.

How the points add up

The table has 9 scored factors, each with its own maximum. It publishes no overall maximum and no rounding rule, so the total here is simple addition. A further 3 groups (talent programmes and recognised achievements, encouraged posts, and innovation, entrepreneurship and young talent) score no points: they qualify for category A directly.

The 2017 points table, as published. Salary is printed in 万元, units of ¥10,000.
CriterionAs printedPoints
Annual salary paid by the employer in China · up to 20 points 国内聘用单位支付年薪（万元）
¥450,000 or more45 及以上20
Between ¥350,000 and ¥450,000（35,45）17
Between ¥250,000 and ¥350,000（25,35）14
Between ¥150,000 and ¥250,000（15,25）11
Between ¥70,000 and ¥150,000（7,15）8
Between ¥50,000 and ¥70,000（5,7）5
Under ¥50,000小于 50
Education or vocational qualification · up to 20 points 受教育程度或取得职业技能资格证书等
Doctorate, or top-level international vocational certificate, or senior technician博士；国际通用最高等级职业技能资格证书或高级技师或相当20
Master's degree, or technician硕士；技师或相当15
Bachelor's degree, or senior skilled worker学士；高级工或相当10
Below a bachelor's degree—0
Years of relevant work experience · up to 20 points 工作年限
Under 2 years不满两年0
2 years2 年5
Each further whole year超过 2 年的，每增加一年，增加一分+1, up to 20
Months worked a year · up to 15 points 每年工作时间（单位：月）
9 or more9 及以上15
Between 6 and 9（6,9）10
Between 3 and 6（3,6）5
Under 3小于 30
Chinese language · up to 5 points 汉语水平
HSK level 1通过汉语水平考试（HSK）一级1
HSK level 2通过汉语水平考试（HSK）二级2
HSK level 3通过汉语水平考试（HSK）三级3
HSK level 4通过汉语水平考试（HSK）四级4
HSK level 5 or above通过汉语水平考试（HSK）五级或以上5
Bachelor's degree or higher taught in Chinese取得以汉语为教学语言的学士及以上学位5
Formerly held Chinese nationality曾经具有中国国籍的外国人5
Work location · up to 10 points 工作定向
Western region西部地区10
Northeast and other old industrial bases东北地区等老工业基地10
National poverty counties and other special areas国家级贫困县等特别地区10
Age in years · up to 15 points 年龄（岁）
18 to 25[18,25]10
26 to 45[26,45]15
46 to 55[46,55]10
56 to 60[56,60]5
Over 60大于 600
Additional qualifications · up to 5 points 毕业于国（境）外高水平大学或有全球 500 强企业任职经验及其他规定条件的
Graduated from a high-level university outside the Chinese mainland毕业于国（境）外高水平大学5
Work experience at a Fortune Global 500 company有世界 500 强企业任职经验5
Patents or other intellectual property具有专利等知识产权的5
5 or more consecutive years working in China已连续在华工作年限 5 年及以上的5
Local encouragement bonus · up to 10 points 地方鼓励性加分
Locally needed special talent; the province sets the criteria地方经济社会发展需求紧缺特殊人才（由省级外国人工作管理部门制定具体标准）0–10

On 11 October 2026 the national work-permit system still listed the 2017 standard, service guide and points table as its procedure documents, Shenzhen still hosted the table, and Shanghai's English guide of 12 August 2026 reproduced it. No official text replacing it was found. Two gaps remain: the foreign-experts pages of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security could not be read, and a file the national system re-uploaded on 20 August 2025 returned an error, so a later revision cannot be ruled out.

Sources: Notice No. 40 and its points table ↗, the standalone national points table ↗, Shenzhen's copy of the table ↗, the national work-permit system ↗

Where the table leaves questions open

The Chinese table prints most bands in round brackets, such as （35,45）, and does not say which band an exact boundary value belongs to. Official English versions published by Shanghai read the same rows in different ways. Where a value sits on such a boundary, this tool shows every reading as a range instead of choosing one: the band above, the band below and, where Shanghai's page of 12 August 2026 leaves the value in no band, 0 points.

  • A total of exactly 85 or 60. The standard says 85 分以上 and 60 分以上 without defining whether 以上 includes the number. Shanghai's English guide of 12 August 2026 puts 85 in category A, its 2023 FAQ puts it in category B, and its guide of 13 August 2026 puts it in both; all three put 60 in category B. China's Civil Code counts 以上 as including the number, but only for civil law.
  • A salary of exactly ¥50,000, ¥70,000, ¥150,000, ¥250,000, ¥350,000 or ¥450,000 a year. The table prints the middle bands in round brackets and the top band as 45 及以上, with no rule for boundary values. Shanghai's guide of 13 August 2026 reads each band as "at least … but less than …", which puts these values in the higher band; its page of 12 August 2026 excludes both ends of the middle bands, which leaves ¥50,000, ¥70,000, ¥150,000, ¥250,000 and ¥350,000 in no band; its 2023 FAQ writes plain ranges, such as ¥350,000 – ¥450,000 beside ¥450,000 or more.
  • Exactly 3, 6 or 9 months a year. The table prints （3,6） and （6,9） in round brackets beside 9 及以上, with no rule for boundary values. Shanghai's page of 12 August 2026 excludes both ends of the middle bands, and its 2023 FAQ writes plain ranges, such as 6 – 9 months beside 9 months or more.
  • Part-years of experience. The table gives 5 points for 2 years and 1 more for each further year, up to 20, but no rule for part-years. Shanghai's worked examples use whole years (10 years = 13 points).
  • Age. The standalone national table writes whole-year bands, [18,25] and so on, which this tool uses; Notice No. 40 prints the same bands in round brackets. No published document says on which date age is counted.
  • Below 60. The standard defines category C by labour-market need and listed groups (such as work of no more than 90 days and quota-managed people), not by score. A total under 60 does not make anyone category C, and this tool shows no category for it.
  • Location points. The work-permit documents do not list which places count as the western region, northeast and other old industrial bases or national poverty counties, and none awards these points for a Shenzhen workplace. Guangdong is not in the State Council's Western Development area. If you choose a listed place, this tool adds the 10 points and leaves out Shenzhen's salary lines, Shenzhen's minimum wage and the Guangdong bonus, which it covers only for Shenzhen workplaces.
  • Undefined terms. Shenzhen defines "high-level university" for its category A criteria by the national system's list of world-famous universities, but no source says that list governs the 5-point item. None defines what counts as intellectual property, or what is "equivalent" to the vocational levels. Shanghai's guide counts only one Chinese-language criterion and one additional qualification. The HSK test now has 9 levels; the table's wording, level 5 or above, covers every level from 5 up.

Sources: Shanghai's guide of 13 August 2026 ↗, Shanghai's guide of 12 August 2026 ↗, Shanghai's 2023 FAQ ↗, the Civil Code ↗, the State Council's Western Development notice ↗, Shenzhen's confirmation-letter guide (Word file) ↗, the HSK operator ↗

Shenzhen's salary tests

Separately from points, the standard lists a salary route into each category: an average salary of at least 6 times the local previous-year average wage for category A, and at least 4 times for category B. "At least" means a salary equal to the line qualifies.

Shenzhen sets the base at ¥9,167 a month (¥110,004 a year) from 6 January 2025: Guangdong's 2023 province-wide average for all urban employed people. It publishes only this base. The lines below are this tool's own multiplication:

  • Category A line: 6 × ¥9,167 = ¥55,002 a month, or ¥660,024 a year.
  • Category B line: 4 × ¥9,167 = ¥36,668 a month, or ¥440,016 a year.

No official source we read defines the salary for these tests or for points: before or after tax, whether one-off bonuses or tax-exempt allowances count, or whether pay is compared monthly or yearly. Because ¥110,004 is exactly 12 × ¥9,167, the monthly and yearly lines agree when pay is even across the year. When salary points or the salary route are claimed in Shenzhen, the employer submits a salary commitment letter, and the applicant's individual income tax record for the latest year, or bank statements, follows at extension or cancellation.

Shenzhen has published no newer base: on 11 October 2026 its work-permit document list still showed the notice of 6 January 2025 as the latest, and Guangdong had published no newer province-wide figure. Every employer must also pay at least the local minimum wage: ¥2,700 a month for full-time work in Shenzhen from 1 September 2026.

Sources: Shenzhen's salary-standard notice ↗, Guangdong's 2023 wage notice ↗, Shenzhen's work-permit documents list ↗, Shenzhen's materials FAQ ↗, Shenzhen's application checklist (Excel file) ↗, Shenzhen's policy Q&A ↗, Shenzhen's minimum-wage notice ↗, Guangdong's minimum-wage release ↗

The Guangdong bonus and its end date

The national table leaves up to 10 points for locally needed talent, with criteria set by each province. Guangdong's notice applies to employers established in Guangdong, for new permits and extensions, and gives the points for meeting any one of its criteria, never more than 10 in total:

  • Working in eastern, western or northern Guangdong, or in a county of Huizhou, Jiangmen or Zhaoqing that receives provincial transfer payments: 10 points. Shenzhen is not among these places, so this tool leaves this criterion out.
  • Degree from a Double First-Class or Guangdong high-level university, or intern under an intergovernmental agreement: 10 points.
  • 2 or more consecutive years working in Guangdong with social insurance, income tax paid and no criminal record: 6 points at 2 years and 2 more for each further whole year, up to 10. Part-years round down.
  • Listed in a city's urgently-needed talent catalogue: 10 points. We could not find Shenzhen's catalogue.

The notice took effect on its issue date and is valid for 5 years. Its two official copies are dated 5 November 2021 (the department's page) and 4 November 2021 (the provincial gazette), so the last valid day is 4 November 2026 or 3 November 2026. That is arithmetic: no end date is printed. On 11 October 2026 neither the department's document list nor the provincial gazette showed a renewal. This tool applies the bonus for dates up to 3 November 2026, shows 4 November 2026 as a range, and after that leaves the bonus out unless a renewal is published.

Sources: Guangdong's bonus notice ↗, the gazette copy ↗, the department's interpretation ↗, the department's document list ↗

Who decides, and who needs no permit

The provincial-level foreign-worker authority, or a local authority it authorises, makes the decision. It grants a permit only where the conditions are met and the materials are true, complete and compliant; it may interview the applicant or check on site, and it may refuse in "other circumstances in which issuing a permit is not appropriate". A refusal comes in writing, with reasons and the right to administrative review or litigation.

Category B's usual conditions are a bachelor's degree, 2 or more years of relevant experience and an age of no more than 60; these can be relaxed for people who meet the points standard, among others. Category A applicants may be exempt from age, degree and experience limits. Shenzhen's 2025 FAQ gives both 60 and China's statutory retirement age as the category B age ceiling. Every applicant must be at least 18.

Who needs no foreigner's work permit:

  • Foreigners with Chinese permanent residence, who live and work on their permanent-residence card (Exit and Entry Administration Law, Article 48).
  • Chinese citizens who have settlement rights abroad but no foreign nationality: they are not foreigners.
  • Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents, who have needed no employment permit for the mainland since 28 July 2018.

Short assignments are not exempt: work of 90 days or less has its own permit procedure. Everyone else needs a work permit and a work-type residence permit, and no employer may hire a foreigner without them (Article 41 of the same law).

The work permit and Z visa guide: every step in Shenzhen

Sources: the national Service Guide ↗, Shenzhen's 2025 FAQ (WPS file) ↗, the Exit and Entry Administration Law ↗, the MOHRSS notice on Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents ↗

Official sources

Each link goes to the issuing body's page or file or to an official government copy, as each entry says; the Shanghai pages show how another official body reads the table. Dates give the day a rule applies from, or the day a page was published. Every source was checked on 11 October 2026.