I Ran My Own Company. How Do I Prove Work Experience for a China Work Permit?

For a normal employee, the story is straightforward. A former employer writes a letter, confirms the role and dates, adds a contact person, and can answer a verification call.

For a founder, the same person may have been the shareholder, director and person signing contracts. That does not make the experience unreal. It does mean you should not pretend the situation was a standard employer–employee relationship when it was not.

The first job is to separate the facts: what you owned, what formal role you held, what work you actually did, and who besides you can verify each part. This is not paperwork for paperwork's sake. It is how a reviewer understands whether the proposed role in China is genuine and connected to a real background.

Guangdong's published guidance says that a work-experience certificate related to the current employment should be issued by the applicant's former employer. It should state the position, service duration and projects, carry the former employer's official seal or the responsible person's signature, and retain a valid phone number or email for verification.

That is useful because it shows what the reviewer is trying to establish: not a polished letter, but a verifiable record of a real role. Shenzhen's published FAQ makes the same point and separately lists documents that may be relevant for legal representatives, directors, shareholders and supervisors.

Neither page is a shortcut for every founder in Guangzhou. Local filing practice, your talent category, your proposed role, the legal structure of the previous business and the quality of the evidence all matter. Treat official guidance as the starting line — not a promise that one document will settle the file.

A founder file is usually stronger when the same facts appear consistently across several real records, rather than being carried by one over-written letter. The purpose is not to upload everything you own. It is to prepare a clean, consistent explanation of the relevant work history.

Depending on the actual business, useful background documents may include company registration information, formal appointment records, board or shareholder records, contracts or project records, tax or accounting records, a company website or public profile, and independent contacts who can verify your work. What is relevant depends on the case. A document that is true but unrelated may add noise rather than help.

Keep the language plain. State the company, your formal role, the period, the work you actually carried out and a contact who can confirm the facts. A good file does not try to sound impressive. It is easy to follow and hard to contradict.

First, make a simple timeline of your work history. Use month and year, company, country, formal role and actual responsibilities. Do not force the timeline to look smoother than it was.

Second, mark the people and documents that can independently support each period. A former co-director, company secretary, accountant, customer or partner may be relevant in different situations. Whether a particular document is useful should be checked before it is translated or authenticated.

Third, compare the history with the China role you are proposing. If you want your Guangzhou company to employ you as a supply-chain manager, your file should be able to explain why you have that knowledge and why that company needs that role.

Finally, do the review before you pay for company registration, Apostille work or translations. If the experience route is weak, there may be other options — including waiting to build more operating history, using a different employment route, or changing the order of the project. The earlier you discover that, the more choices you have.