China Works, If You Know the Rules

China Field Notes · by Daona · 10 min read

Most foreigners we meet in China are not struggling with the big picture. They already know why they came: the supply chains, the customers, the engineering talent, the speed. What slows them down is the small print — the things nobody explains because, to people who grew up here, they are too obvious to mention.

A sales director lands in Shanghai, opens a payment app, and finds her card works at a coffee shop but not for splitting a dinner bill. A founder signs a lease for a small office and learns three weeks later that the landlord never helped him register his address with the police. A buyer from the Gulf wires a 30% deposit to a "factory" that turns out to be a two-person trading company with a nice showroom. An HR manager hires a foreign engineer who arrived on a business visa and is told, politely but firmly, that this is not how it works.

None of these people were careless. They were working from rules that are true somewhere else.

That is why we are starting China Field Notes: a weekly, English-language column about the practical rules of doing business and living in China — written by a Shanghai-based team that handles cross-border deals every day, checked against official sources, and dated so you know how fresh it is.

If your mental picture of China is from before 2023, it is out of date in several ways that matter to you directly.

Getting in is easier. China now lets ordinary passport holders from around 50 countries enter visa-free for up to 30 days for business, tourism, family visits, exchanges or transit. The policy currently runs to 31 December 2026. Separately, travellers from 57 countries can use 240-hour visa-free transit through 65 ports, as long as they are travelling on to a third country or region.

Paying is easier. Alipay and WeChat Pay now accept foreign Visa, Mastercard and other international cards directly. Payments of ¥200 or less carry no service fee. You no longer need a Chinese bank account just to buy a train ticket or a taxi ride.

Registering is easier. Since March 2026, foreigners staying somewhere other than a hotel can complete their accommodation registration (住宿登记) online in a growing number of provinces, instead of queuing at a police station.

Shopping is easier. Departure tax refunds now start at a ¥200 purchase in a single store on a single day, and many stores refund on the spot.

But the business rules have tightened in places. The 2024 Company Law gives new companies five years to pay in their registered capital. Some big cities apply salary thresholds strictly when approving top-tier work permits. Banks check outbound transfers more carefully. Being able to enter easily is not the same as being allowed to work, hire or move money freely.

When a foreign client asks us "how does X work in China?", we usually answer in three layers. You will see this structure throughout the column.

Most English-language guides cover layer one. Travel blogs cover bits of layer two. Very little is written about layer three. We will cover all three, and we will tell you which is which.

We have organised the column by situation, not by industry, because that is how problems actually arrive.

Once a month, Ask Daona will answer reader questions. We never publish the name of the person who asked.

1. Every key Chinese term comes with the Chinese characters. You will see "residence permit (居留许可)" or "company chop (公章)". You can point at the screen when you are at a counter.

2. Every article ends with a "Show this" card. It is a short block of Chinese sentences you can screenshot and show to a police officer, bank teller, landlord or taxi driver.

3. We name our sources and date our rules. Policies in China move quickly. Each article ends with the date the rules were last checked. If a rule changes, we revise the article and republish it.

4. We separate facts from opinions. When we say "the rule is", we mean a written rule. When we say "in our experience" or "our view", we are telling you how it tends to work in practice — and you should weigh it accordingly.

5. We stay practical. No politics, no hype, no doom. China does some things remarkably well and some things in ways that will frustrate you. We will say both plainly and focus on what you can do about it.

A foreign-owned trading company in Shanghai hires its first foreign sales manager. The manager entered on a 30-day visa-free stay and started work while the team "sorted out the paperwork".

Illustrative. Does not refer to any real company.

The fine is the smallest part. The real cost is two months of lost momentum and a mark on the record that makes the next application slower. The correct sequence — offer, work permit notice, Z visa, entry, work permit, residence permit — would have taken roughly the same calendar time, without the risk. We walk through that sequence properly in Issue 03.

"Everything in China is done through connections."

Relationships matter everywhere, and they matter here. But for registrations, permits, tax and banking, the system decides. A friend who "knows someone" cannot fix a form that the online system rejects. Spend your effort getting the documents right.

"If it worked for my colleague, it will work for me."

Your colleague may have a different nationality, a different visa type, a different city, or may have applied before a rule changed. In China, those four variables change outcomes more than people expect.

"I'll handle it when I'm there."

Many steps — your work permit notice, your Z visa, your company name check, your bank's account opening appointment — need to happen in a specific order, and some must start before you arrive. Planning two months ahead is not over-cautious; it is normal.

Daona is a Shanghai-based team working on cross-border capital, industrial cooperation and overseas projects — with day-to-day work in China, the Gulf and Central Asia. Our clients include Chinese companies going abroad and foreign companies coming in.

We are not a law firm, an accounting firm or an immigration agency. Where a licensed professional is required — a visa application, a legal opinion, a tax filing, an audit — we coordinate with licensed firms and say so clearly. What we do ourselves is the work that sits between those professionals: finding and checking partners and suppliers, structuring cooperation, and keeping a multi-step project moving in the right order. Government fees and licensed firms' fees are paid by the client directly, at cost.

We are writing this column because we keep answering the same questions in meetings. It is more useful to write the answers down properly — and keep them up to date.

· New to China? Start with Issue 02 (your first 72 hours) and Issue 03 (which visa you are actually on).

· Setting up a company? Watch for Issues 05, 06 and 13.

· Already operating? The Run the Business collection is for you.

· Have a question we haven't covered? Reply ASK with your question. If it is useful to others, it may appear in Ask Daona — without your name.

Rules as of October 2026. This column provides general information, not legal or tax advice. For your specific situation, consult a licensed professional.

China Field Notes · by Daona