Delta Law Expat Services Desk ｜ Measures for the Examination and Approval of Foreign Nationals' Permanent Residence in China（《外国人在中国永久居留审批管理办法》）, Order No. 74 of the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, current version in force from 2004-08-15
- Order No. 74 has stood unamended since 2004-08-15. Article 6, paragraph 1 sets out seven eligibility categories; paragraph 2 requires every qualifying year to be consecutive and to end on the application date.
- Article 7's four investment thresholds and Article 8's four employer categories are the operative detail behind Article 6's "investment" and "senior post" limbs — unchanged since 2004.
- A 2020 draft regulation circulated for public comment for one month has never been formally promulgated. It is not current law; the eligibility figures often quoted online belong to that draft, not to Order No. 74.
- Approval is a three-tier structure under Article 5: municipal organs accept, provincial departments examine, and only the Ministry of Public Security approves — a law firm can assess whether the statutory conditions appear met, not predict the outcome.
- The document has carried three different official names over two decades — the 2004 Measures' own term, the Exit and Entry Administration Law's generic term, and the National Immigration Administration's current card, redesigned from 2023-12-01 — none interchangeable in a legal analysis.
1. The document at a glance
| Item | Content |
|---|---|
| Full title | Measures for the Examination and Approval of Foreign Nationals' Permanent Residence in China（《外国人在中国永久居留审批管理办法》） |
| Document number | Order No. 74 of the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs（公安部、外交部令第 74 号） |
| Adopted / promulgated | Approved by the State Council on 2003-12-13; promulgated and effective 2004-08-15 |
| Current version in force from | 2004-08-15, full text 29 articles, not amended to date |
| Issuing authority | Ministry of Public Security jointly with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs（公安部、外交部） |
| Official text | https://www.gov.cn/gongbao/content/2005/content_64214.htm |
| What this page covers | What Article 6's seven eligibility categories actually require, and why a 2020 draft regulation is not a substitute for them |
2. Scope and eligibility: Article 6's seven categories
Order No. 74 governs one question: on what conditions may a foreign national be approved for permanent residence in China — residence for an unrestricted period — and who decides. The document itself carries a fixed name in the 2004 text, distinct from the card issued today (section 4 below).
第三条 《外国人永久居留证》是获得在中国永久居留资格的外国人在中国境内居留的合法身份证件，可以单独使用。
Article 3: The Foreign National's Permanent Residence Card is the lawful identity document, for residing within China, of a foreign national who has obtained permanent residence status; it may be used on its own.
Unofficial translation; the Chinese text as officially published prevails.
All seven eligibility routes sit in a single article, behind a shared threshold.
第六条 申请在中国永久居留的外国人应当遵守中国法律，身体健康，无犯罪记录，并符合下列条件之一：
（一）在中国直接投资、连续3年投资情况稳定且纳税记录良好的；
（二）在中国担任副总经理、副厂长等职务以上或者具有副教授、副研究员等副高级职称以上以及享受同等待遇，已连续任职满4年、4年内在中国居留累计不少于3年且纳税记录良好的；
（三）对中国有重大、突出贡献以及国家特别需要的；
（四）本款第一项、第二项、第三项所指人员的配偶及其未满18周岁的未婚子女；
（五）中国公民或者在中国获得永久居留资格的外国人的配偶，婚姻关系存续满5年、已在中国连续居留满5年、每年在中国居留不少于9个月且有稳定生活保障和住所的；
（六）未满18周岁未婚子女投靠父母的；
（七）在境外无直系亲属，投靠境内直系亲属，且年满60周岁、已在中国连续居留满5年、每年在中国居留不少于9个月并有稳定生活保障和住所的。
本条所指年限均指申请之日前连续的年限。
Article 6: An applicant shall abide by Chinese law, be in good health, have no criminal record, and meet one of: (1) direct investment in China, stable for three consecutive years, good tax record; (2) a post at or above deputy general manager / deputy factory director, or a professional title at or above associate professor / associate research fellow, or equivalent treatment, held continuously for four years with at least three years' cumulative residence within those four years and a good tax record; (3) significant, outstanding contribution to China, or a person specially needed by the state; (4) the spouse or an unmarried child under 18 of a person in items (1)–(3); (5) the spouse of a Chinese citizen or of a foreign permanent resident, married five years, resident in China continuously for five years and at least nine months each year, with stable means of subsistence and housing; (6) an unmarried child under 18 relying on a parent; (7) a person 60 or above with no immediate family abroad, relying on an immediate family member in China, resident continuously for five years and at least nine months each year, with stable means of subsistence and housing. Paragraph 2: the years referred to in this article all mean consecutive years immediately preceding the date of application.
Unofficial translation; the Chinese text as officially published prevails.
Three points matter in practice. The opening clause — lawful conduct, health, no criminal record — is a threshold that applies before any of the seven items; a category match alone does not complete the analysis. Items (4) through (7) are derivative: eligibility depends on someone else already qualifying, or on a Chinese-citizen or permanent-resident spouse, so a family member's file cannot be assessed alone. And paragraph 2's closing sentence — 「本条所指年限均指申请之日前连续的年限」 — fixes that every year-count (three consecutive years of investment, four years in post, five years of marriage or residence, nine months each year) must run consecutively and end on the application date; a broken streak, even one later resumed, does not satisfy the article.
Items (1) and (2) each rely on a further article for their numeric detail.
第七条 本办法第六条第一款第一项所指的外国人，其在中国投资实际缴付的注册资本金应当符合下列条件之一：
（一）在国家颁布的《外商投资产业指导目录》鼓励类产业投资合计50万美元以上；
（二）在中国西部地区和国家扶贫开发工作重点县投资合计50万美元以上；
（三）在中国中部地区投资合计100万美元以上；
（四）在中国投资合计200万美元以上。
Article 7: The actually paid-in registered capital for the Article 6(1) investment shall meet one of: (1) USD 500,000 or more, cumulatively, in an encouraged industry under the state Catalogue for the Guidance of Foreign Investment Industries; (2) USD 500,000 or more in China's western region or a state key county for poverty alleviation and development; (3) USD 1,000,000 or more in China's central region; (4) USD 2,000,000 or more anywhere in China.
Unofficial translation; the Chinese text as officially published prevails.
These four thresholds are the actual test behind the "investment" limb of Article 6(1), unamended since 2004, and they attach to actually paid-in capital, not a subscribed or committed amount.
第八条 本办法第六条第一款第二项所指的外国人，其任职单位应当符合下列条件之一：
（一）国务院各部门或者省级人民政府所属的机构；
（二）重点高等学校；
（三）执行国家重点工程项目或者重大科研项目的企业、事业单位；
（四）高新技术企业、鼓励类外商投资企业、外商投资先进技术企业或者外商投资产品出口企业。
Article 8: The employer of an Article 6(2) applicant shall be one of: (1) a State Council department, or an institution under a provincial-level government; (2) a key institution of higher education; (3) an enterprise or public institution carrying out a state key engineering project or major scientific research project; (4) a high-and-new-technology enterprise, an encouraged-category foreign-invested enterprise, an advanced-technology foreign-invested enterprise, or an export-oriented foreign-invested enterprise.
Unofficial translation; the Chinese text as officially published prevails.
Article 8 gates the "senior post" limb from the employer's side: holding a qualifying title under Article 6(2) is not enough unless the employer itself falls into one of these four categories.
3. The 2020 draft regulation is not the law
What changed since 2004 is procedural rather than the eligibility text itself — in particular, the name of the document a successful applicant actually receives today.
4. One eligibility rule, three different document names
Three current, official sources use three different names for what a layperson calls the "green card," and none should be silently substituted for another.
| Source | Name used | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Order No. 74, Article 3 (2004, unamended) | 《外国人永久居留证》 | The 2004 text's own term; this page preserves it when quoting Order No. 74 |
| Exit and Entry Administration Law（《中华人民共和国出境入境管理法》）, Article 48 | 永久居留证件（"permanent residence document"） | A generic statutory term, not a proper document name |
| National Immigration Administration, current practice | 《中华人民共和国外国人永久居留身份证》 | The card actually issued today; redesigned and reissued from 2023-12-01 |
宣布将于今年12月1日起正式签发启用新版中华人民共和国外国人永久居留身份证（以下简称“永居证”）……新版永居证启用后，现版永居证在有效期内仍可继续使用，持证人可根据个人需要，适时申请换发新版永居证。
[NIA notice, 2023-09-15]: Announcing that from 1 December this year the new-format Permanent Residence ID Card for Foreign Nationals of the People's Republic of China would be formally issued and put into use … after the new-format Card is put into use, the current-format Card remains usable within its period of validity, and the holder may apply for replacement as and when the holder chooses.
Unofficial translation; the Chinese text as officially published prevails.
Two takeaways follow. A pre-2023 cardholder is not required to exchange it before its stated expiry. And when this page quotes Order No. 74 directly, it keeps the 2004 text's own term, 《外国人永久居留证》, rather than substituting NIA's current name — the two describe the same underlying document across two decades of administrative practice, but conflating the labels in a legal analysis is exactly the imprecision this page avoids.
5. Sequence and timing: who decides, and when
Order No. 74 splits the decision into three tiers, and only one tier can say yes.
第五条 受理外国人在中国永久居留申请的机关是设区的市级人民政府公安机关，直辖市公安分、县局；审核外国人在中国永久居留申请的机关是各省、自治区、直辖市公安厅、局；审批外国人在中国永久居留申请的机关是公安部。
Article 5: The authority accepting an application is the public security organ of a city divided into districts, or a sub-bureau or county bureau of a municipality directly under the central government; the authority examining it is the provincial-level public security department or bureau; the authority approving it is the Ministry of Public Security.
Unofficial translation; the Chinese text as officially published prevails.
| Stage | Authority | Article |
|---|---|---|
| Acceptance of application | Municipal (or sub-provincial-city) public security organ where the applicant principally invests or resides long-term | Art. 5, first clause; Art. 17 |
| Examination | Provincial-level public security department or bureau | Art. 5, second clause |
| Approval / refusal decision | Ministry of Public Security, within 6 months of acceptance | Art. 5, third clause; Art. 18 |
| Issuance of the document | Ministry of Public Security for an applicant in China; for an applicant abroad, a Chinese mission issues a confirmation form and "D" visa, and the document is collected from the accepting organ within 30 days of entry | Art. 19 |
All procedural detail beyond this statutory sequence — forms, supporting documents, interview scheduling — is subject to the current published requirements of the accepting authority; this page does not restate any such requirements.
6. Consequences and cancellation
Permanent residence, once granted, is not unconditional or irrevocable.
第四十九条 外国人有下列情形之一的，由公安部决定取消其在中国境内永久居留资格：
（一）对中国国家安全和利益造成危害的；
（二）被处驱逐出境的；
（三）弄虚作假骗取在中国境内永久居留资格的；
（四）在中国境内居留未达到规定时限的；
（五）不适宜在中国境内永久居留的其他情形。
Article 49: The Ministry of Public Security shall decide to cancel a foreign national's permanent residence status where the person: (1) endangers China's national security or interests; (2) has been ordered deported; (3) fraudulently obtained the status; (4) has failed to meet the prescribed time limits for residence in China; (5) falls under any other circumstance under which permanent residence is not appropriate.
Unofficial translation; the Chinese text as officially published prevails.
Item (4) only makes sense read with Order No. 74's own operative detail, which Article 24 supplies directly.
第二十四条 具有在中国永久居留资格的外国人有下列情形之一的，公安部可以取消其在中国永久居留资格，同时收缴其所持《外国人永久居留证》或者宣布作废：
（一）可能对国家安全和利益造成危害的；
（二）被人民法院判处驱逐出境的；
（三）通过提供虚假材料等非法手段骗取在中国永久居留资格的；
（四）未经批准每年在中国累计居留不满3个月或者5年内在中国累计居留不满1年的。
Article 24: The Ministry of Public Security may cancel a permanent resident's status and confiscate or declare void the Foreign National's Permanent Residence Card where the person: (1) may endanger national security or interests; (2) has been sentenced by a people's court to deportation; (3) fraudulently obtained the status through false materials or other unlawful means; (4) without approval, has resided in China for less than three cumulative months in a given year, or less than one cumulative year within five years.
Unofficial translation; the Chinese text as officially published prevails.
Read together, Article 49 supplies the statutory authority to cancel, and Article 24 supplies the operative detail — including, in item (4), the running presence test (three months a year; one year within five) that Article 20 elsewhere fixes as an ongoing condition of holding the status, not just of obtaining it. A holder who spends most of each year outside China, without the provincial-level exemption Article 20 allows, is exposed to cancellation on this ground alone, independent of anything else in the file.
7. Who runs into this, and how it is used
This framework is most relevant to three groups: investors and senior post-holders assessing whether their facts fit Article 6, 7 or 8 before an application; family members whose eligibility is entirely derivative of a principal applicant's status; and existing holders assessing their ongoing exposure under Article 20 and Article 24 before extended time abroad.
- Misconception: A widely circulated set of easier eligibility figures represents a relaxed, more recent standard for permanent residence. In fact: those figures generally trace to the 2020 draft regulation, never promulgated. The only currently binding eligibility text is Article 6, 7 and 8 of Order No. 74, unchanged since 2004.
- Misconception: Meeting Article 6's substantive conditions means the application will be approved. In fact: Article 5 and Article 47 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law place the approval decision exclusively with the Ministry of Public Security; meeting the stated conditions is necessary but does not itself determine the competent authority's decision.
- Misconception: Once granted, a holder's obligations under Order No. 74 are complete. In fact: Article 20's presence requirement continues indefinitely, and Article 24, read with Article 49, allows cancellation on that ground alone, years after the original approval.
- Misconception: The document named in Order No. 74, the term used in the Exit and Entry Administration Law and the card NIA issues today are three separate things needing separate analysis. In fact: they describe the same underlying status across three texts written at different times (2004, 2013, redesigned 2023), and the labels should not be treated as describing different legal documents.
- Verify which of the seven Article 6 items is in play, and for the investment or senior-post routes, cross-check the facts against Article 7's dollar thresholds or Article 8's four employer categories — a category match under Article 6 alone is insufficient without that further detail.
- Check that every year-count runs consecutively and ends on the intended application date, per Article 6, paragraph 2 — a broken residence or tenure record, even one later resumed, does not satisfy the article.
- Assess whether a derivative applicant's eligibility (items 4, 6 or 7) genuinely depends on a principal who independently qualifies under items (1)–(3), or on a Chinese-citizen or already-permanent-resident spouse or family member under item (5) or (7).
- For an existing holder planning extended time abroad, check the running total against Article 20's two limits (three months in the current year; one year within the trailing five) before departure, and confirm whether a provincial-level exemption has been, or needs to be, obtained.
- 《外国人在中国永久居留审批管理办法》，公安部、外交部令第 74 号，2003 年 12 月 13 日经国务院批准，2004 年 8 月 15 日公布施行，全文 29 条，至今未修正。本文引用其第三条、第五条、第六条、第七条、第八条、第二十四条。官方原文 https://www.gov.cn/gongbao/content/2005/content_64214.htm
- 《中华人民共和国出境入境管理法》，主席令第五十七号，2012 年 6 月 30 日通过并公布，2013 年 7 月 1 日施行，全文 93 条，至今未修正。本文引用其第四十七条、第四十八条、第四十九条。官方原文 https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741440/n741547/c1013311/content.html
- 《中华人民共和国外国人永久居留管理条例（征求意见稿）》，司法部立法一局 2020 年 2 月 27 日至 2020 年 3 月 27 日公开征求意见；截至 2026 年 9 月 5 日未见正式发布，不是现行法。https://zqyj.chinalaw.gov.cn/readmore?id=3654&listType=1
- 国家移民管理局《国家移民管理局发布新版外国人永久居留身份证》，2023 年 9 月 15 日发布，自 2023 年 12 月 1 日起签发启用新版。https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741440/n741542/c1599039/content.html
- Status and timing note 效力与时点提示：Order No. 74 has been in force, unamended, since 2004-08-15; the 2020 draft regulation discussed above has not been promulgated and creates no binding rule as at the verification date of this page. Approval of any individual application rests exclusively with the Ministry of Public Security under Article 5 of Order No. 74 and Article 47 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law. All procedural matters — forms, supporting documents, interview scheduling and processing arrangements — are subject to the current published requirements of the accepting authority.
This article is general legal research and does not constitute legal advice; by law, a law firm may not guarantee case outcomes. 本文为一般性法律研究，不构成法律意见；依据法律规定，律所不得承诺办案结果。
