What you quote from the State Bureau of Foreign Affairs (editor's note: the writer is referring to the SAFEA guidelines) are nothing more than the guidelines, and these guidelines are often not followed exactly, depending on the circumstances. A native speaker with nothing more than a high school diploma can easily get a legal job teaching, even at a Chinese university, with absolutely no legal problems or possible penalties to either the school or the teacher. If the provincial Bureau of Foreign Affairs is willing to certify the teacher and the contract (a necessity for being hired at public universities or schools), and if the Foreign Affair's Office of the local Public Security Bureau (PSB) is willing to give the foreign teacher a working visa (a "Z" visa) or a work permit for China, then there is no possible fraud involved or potential legal liability for the teacher.

Because there are many more schools in China who want teachers than there are teachers available, many schools are willing to hire teachers with few or no qualifications,and the provincial Bureaus of Foreign Affairs are often willing to certify these teachers as qualified if the schools can justify the need. If a public school wants to hire you and the Bureau of Foreign Affairs is willing to certify you as qualified, then the visa or work permit in most cases will be granted. For private schools, the situation is more varied, but generally if the school is in fact licensed by the government (some new schools are unlicensed) and if the school cannot find a Chinese candidate with the same qualifications or skill, then they should be able to hire a foreigner and the local PSB would probably grant a working visa or a work permit. Since native speakers of English have an ability most Chinese people do not have (native pronunciation and fluency), there is no legal reason they couldn't be hired as teachers for licensed private schools.

Regarding China, there is one important issue of possible fraud which job hunters must be wary of, and that involves unlicenced private schools. If the school is unlicensed, it cannot hope to get the teacher a working visa or a work permit. Many of these schools will suggest that the teacher can come to China and work on a business visa. This in fact, is illegal, and not just against their guidelines: You cannot work in China as an English teacher on a business visa. Some teachers are able to get away with this for awhile, but eventually they risk having to pay fines and being deported.

How can a teacher avoid these kinds of schools? A teacher should always insist that the school provide him with a working visa (a "Z" visa). If the school is offering a "Z" visa, it should provide a contract generally (in the widest sense of the word) in concord with the guidelines of the State Bureau of Foreign Affairs, and the contract should explicitly state that the school is responsible for providing a working visa for the teacher. The school should be able to supply an official letter of invitation. The teacher should take a physical exam and get a health certificate (the health forms are provided as a last step). With these documents in hand, the teacher applies for the visa. It is impossible to get a working visa or a work permit for China without a health certificate, but a health certificate may not be necessary with a business or tourist visa. If a school tells a teacher to come on a business visa, then the teacher should look for another place to work.

Sometimes it is possible (and even more convenient if one is pressed for time) to come to China on a tourist visa and change it to a working visa later on; however, a teacher should be wary of this and demand evidence (references from other teachers, for example) that the school in fact can offer a working visa and that the school has the ability to change the tourist visa to a working visa in country, or is willing to pay all of the expenses if this fails. Even at that, the teacher should ask him or herself if he or she is willing to face the risk that the visa cannot be changed in country.