This week, the United States and China continued to take action on commitments made during the leaders’ meeting in October.
In an effort to attract more foreign talents, the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA) has quickened reform to make it easier for foreigners to apply for China’s work visa. Effective on April 1, 2017, the SAFEA rolled out a unified work permit system nationwide that began to process applications both ‘foreign experts’ and ordinary foreign nationals, referred to as R visas and Z visas respectively. Foreign applicants will benefit from this restructure of the foreign work permit system due to its simpler, clearer, and less time-consuming application process.
China’s Individual Income Tax (IIT) Law stipulates that all individuals working and deriving income from within the territory of China are subject to IIT. While Chinese nationals are taxed on all income sourced both domestically and overseas, non-Chinese nationals are only taxed on income deriving from within China. Though IIT is usually filed by employers’ HR and payroll teams on behalf of employees, both parties should be aware of tax thresholds, and implement sufficient salary planning to reduce tax liability. Furthermore, individuals are required to make annual declarations before the end of the financial year. In this article, we give a general overview of how IIT works for foreign nationals working China.
In spite of the anti-globalization rhetoric offshoring isn’t the main culprit for the decline of manufacturing jobs. A 2015 Ball State analysis found that 87 percent of American manufacturing job losses over the preceding decade could be attributed to automation and productivity gains, leaving trade responsible for as much as 13 percent. But for all the employment disruption caused thus far by technological advances, the situation, and its political side effects, is likely to become much more serious in coming years. And, contrary to the gloomy message promoted by President Trump, the United States is actually in a far more enviable position than much of the world.
