Can you digital nomad in China?

Apr '23 (edited) • Off Topic

The short answer is no! But the longer answer is yes! There is no such thing as a digital nomad visa for China, the categories are simple and strict, tourist visa, business visa, work visa, student visa. There are dependant visa's if you are related to a Chinese citizen, I assume that this is not the case for many here!

As of the end of April the announcement from the central government is that all testing is now fully suspended and there is no need to have pre-testing or post-testing to travel to China now. Many more routes to and from China are opening every day, and prices in general are showing signs of dropping as numbers of travellers increase.

If you want to stay in China as a 'digital nomad', you can apply for a tourist visa called the L-visa, which is valid for 3 to 6 months. You can spend up to 2 months in some of China's top tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen. To apply for the visa, you'll need to submit your passport (which should be valid for at least 6 months), flight tickets, proof of accommodation, proof of payment for the visa fee, a passport-sized photo, and a completed visa application form. Once you have your visa in your passport you can enter China and spend some time checking the place out, as a tourist you can not legally work for any company in China, if you are a self employed digital nomad you can carry on your work where ever you can get a signal. 5g and wifi is excellent in China, picking up a disposable SIM card is straight forward from China Mobile, or other providers, I haven't come across a shopping mall or coffee shop that doesn't have free wifi! Starbucks are everywhere!

A business visa has to be renewed every 3 months, and you need a company to support your application, there will be more stringent checks when applying for a business visa. The other visa to apply for which will give you time to "digital nomad' would be the student visa, most university courses will give you a great deal of free time, where you have to pay for a university course, I know a number of foreigners who received a full grant to study Chinese, plus you will get university accommodation, and access to the facilities of the university. There is a grey area of working whilst on a student visa for a company, there will be little checks on what you do in your spare time, so a student visa will give you at least one academic year, and multiple entries into China if you hop around Asia on the university breaks.

One province which is seeing a lot of opening up for foreign investments in Hainan Province, its an island of the coast of China close to Vietnam, recently news from the government there is that opportunities for western universities are being opened for foreign investment. The locals call Hainan the Hawaii of China, it is a beautiful place to explore, I have been many times and regularly check the job boards out as its a place I can see my wife and I moving too. 20-30 degrees in the winter and 30-40 in the summer, next to the beach is the best location, look for Sanya, its great.

In essence I don't see China ever having a visa that caters for digital nomads, its political system is not designed for such, but saying that I would not surprise me to see tier 1 cities ate some point open up to other ways of allowing "talent' into the country. Just like Thailand, the work arounds are doable, the student visa is a good option, the tourist visa less so as to reapply you would need to be in your hime country to access the Chinese Embassy and visa process.

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