When your China employment contract ends: a departure checklist for permits, stay and exit

When your China employment contract ends and you intend to leave, the first required step is your employer's, not yours. Under the 2025 revised Regulations on Administration of Entry and Exit of Foreigners, the employing unit must promptly report your leaving the job — or any change of work region — to the local public security exit-entry authority (Art. 26). After that report is made, you verify your own work permit, residence reason, and lawful-stay arrangement before deciding to exit or to stay.

The checklist below follows that sequence. Official rules are marked as such; everything labeled a practical step is a suggestion, not a legal requirement.

1. Confirm the employer's report was filed

Official rule: The employing unit, upon discovering that a foreign employee has left the job or changed work region, shall report promptly to the local public security exit-entry authority (Regulations, Art. 26).

Practical step: Ask your employer for the date the report was submitted and the office it went to. This is the trigger for everything else; if the unit has not reported, your own permit status can drift without you knowing.

2. Verify your work permit and residence reason

Official rule: Since 2017, the former Foreigner's Employment Certificate (外国人就业证) was integrated into the Foreigner's Work Permit (外国人工作许可证) (MOST FAQ V1.0).

Practical step: Do not act on any older instruction to "return the employment certificate." That wording — found in Article 20 of the employment-management rules, which still uses pre-integration terminology — describes a document that no longer exists as a separate item. Match your current document to the work permit system, not to obsolete guidance.

If your residence permit was tied to employment, its underlying reason has now terminated. The regulation states that when the original residence reason changes and is not declared within the prescribed period, and remains undeclared after announcement, the document may be declared invalid (Regulations, Art. 34).

Uncertainty: The exact length of that "prescribed period" is not specified in the cited regulation. Do not assume a fixed nationwide cancellation deadline; confirm the current period with the exit-entry authority where you are registered.

3. If you are not leaving immediately: the stay permit

Official rule: When the residence reason terminates and you need to continue staying for humanitarian reasons, you may submit your residence document and supporting proof to apply for a stay permit; whether it is issued is decided by the competent authority on review (National Immigration Administration guide).

Practical step: Treat this as narrow and discretionary, not a routine grace period you are entitled to. Whether you can instead switch employers, or obtain a stay permit at all, must be checked against the current procedures of your intended place of residence and the work permit authority. The evidence here does not establish a uniform rule for either path.

4. Social insurance on departure

Official rule: Under the Interim Measures for Social Insurance of Foreigners Employed in China, an eligible departing insured person may retain the pension insurance personal account; upon a written application to terminate the social insurance relationship, the personal account savings may be paid as a one-time amount in accordance with the regulations (Shanghai HRSS reprint, Art. 5).

Practical step: The retain-versus-terminate choice is a personal variable. If you may return to China or claim later, retaining the account may suit you; if you want the balance closed out, the written termination application is the documented route. The evidence sets no deadline for either election.

5. Housing and move-out (outside the evidence)

A typical departure list includes ending a lease, but the supplied sources do not regulate housing. Lease termination is a civil matter between you and your landlord, beyond the immigration and social-insurance material above. As a practical step only, align your move-out date with your lawful-stay timeline so you are not physically in China without a valid residence basis. For lease disputes, the competent channel is local contract and housing law, not the exit-entry authority.

Sources and verification

• Employer reporting duty and document-invalidation risk: Regulations on Administration of Entry and Exit of Foreigners (2025 Revision), Art. 26 and Art. 34 — Ministry of Justice National Administrative Regulation Library, updated 2025-08-07.
• Work permit integration from 2017: Foreigner Work Permit FAQ V1.0 — MOST Service Platform (former SAFEA), updated 2017-04-19.
• Stay permit (humanitarian, discretionary): Stay Permit Issuance, Renewal and Reissuance Service Guide — National Immigration Administration, updated 2026-07-28.
• Social insurance retention or one-time payout: Interim Measures for Social Insurance of Foreigners Employed in China, Art. 5 — Shanghai HRSS Bureau reprinting the MOHRSS rule (measure in force from 2011-10-15).

Three points in this article are explicitly uncertain rather than sourced: the exact "prescribed period" in Art. 34, the availability of an employer switch, and any stay-permit outcome. For each, the competent authority to ask is the exit-entry authority or work permit office for your intended place of residence. No fees, uniform cancellation deadlines, or approval outcomes are stated because the evidence does not contain them.