北京

Beijing Entry Permits: The Real Talk for US Founders Flying In You’ve booked the flight. The pitch deck is polished. Your WeChat is loaded with contacts. But there’s one piece of paper that can stop you at the gate: the Beijing entry permit. Most US founders assume a standard Chinese visa covers everything. It doesn’t. Beijing operates under stricter entry controls than many other Chinese cities, especially for business activities that look like “employment” or “long-term residence” to border officers. I’ve seen founders turned away at Capital International Airport because they held an M visa but planned to sign contracts and manage a WFOE (Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise) daily. That’s not what an M visa is for. ...

Beijing Tax Residency Rules That Catch US Founders Off Guard Last week, a founder from Austin texted me at 11 PM his time. He’d been in Beijing for 182 days over the past twelve months — one day shy of the 183-day threshold that triggers China tax residency. His accountant in Houston had told him “you’re fine, you’re under 183 days.” But he’d forgotten about the three business trips in March, the two weeks in June, and that extended stay in September when his kid got sick. Total: 197 days. ...

Why Beijing Is Opening Up—But Not Just Any Door You’ve heard it before: China is opening up. In January 2026, state-backed outlet Shanghai Observer put it bluntly: “The more complex the global environment, the more China will open its arms.” But here’s the kicker—they’re not handing out keys to just anyone. There’s a quiet but real tension brewing beneath the surface. Young Chinese graduates like Zhou Xinying, a postgraduate at Zhejiang University, are already feeling the squeeze in the job market. And when a new visa policy rolls in—like the rumored K-visa scheme aimed at skilled foreign professionals—it doesn’t just bring opportunity. It brings anxiety. ...