China’s State Council decree, signed on 22 July 2024 and effective 15 September 2026, reinstates a mandatory register for emigration agents and introduces systematic exit‑restriction rules for Chinese citizens. The measures reshape the country’s investment‑migration market by tightening control over who can facilitate exits, raising compliance thresholds for foreign travelers, and prompting a shift in how Chinese high‑net‑worth individuals obtain overseas residency and citizenship advice.
Institutionalised exit controls
The new regulations list four grounds on which Chinese nationals may be barred from leaving the country:
- National‑security offenses abroad – bans of six months to three years for individuals whose overseas conduct is deemed to endanger national security or interests.
- Document fraud or illegal exit/entry – identical bans for those convicted of falsifying documents or violating exit‑entry rules.
- Export‑control and technology‑security breaches – no time limit; aimed primarily at personnel in AI, semiconductors and other sensitive sectors.
- Travel to “high‑risk” destinations – authorities will actively discourage trips to countries deemed risky.
These provisions do not prohibit emigration outright, but they create a perception of limited exit opportunities, which historically accelerates demand for overseas residency solutions among affluent Chinese.
Stricter entry requirements for foreigners
For non‑Chinese travelers, the decree raises the penalty for providing false information to a one‑ to five‑year entry ban. Individuals on a “countermeasure list” or “unreliable entity list” may be denied entry, and immigration officers can request electronic data with a duty to cooperate.
At the same time, China expands its tourism facilitation:
- 240‑hour visa‑free transit zones.
- Ongoing expansion of visa‑free entry.
- 17.8 million visa‑free foreign arrivals in the first half of 2026, a 30.6 % year‑on‑year increase.
Tourism growth is pursued separately from the stricter controls affecting business‑related travel; a tourist visa remains unsuitable for selling migration services on Chinese soil.
Impact of the emigration‑agent register
All agencies and individuals offering exit‑entry intermediary services must now:
- Register with authorities and align their business scope with the registration.
- Ensure legal representatives, principals and staff have clean criminal records.
- Maintain premises and capital proportional to the business (estimated RMB 1 million–5 million, reminiscent of the 2001 deposit regime).
- Refrain from arranging foreign nationality or permanent residence for public officials or military personnel, and report any such cases encountered.
- Prevent overseas entities from conducting exit‑entry intermediary business directly inside China.
Consequences:
- The number of licensed firms and practitioners is expected to drop sharply.
- Clients become more sensitive to the visibility of their files, making registration a greater source of concern for applicants than for agents.
Shift away from the pre‑2018 B2B model
The earlier model—foreign program providers handling destination‑government compliance while Chinese agents sourced clients and prepared paperwork—was built for a market that no longer exists. Today, Chinese clients prioritize problem‑solving capacity (tax planning, offshore structuring, cross‑border corporate advice) over simple application processing.
Emerging practice:
- Tax‑planning and offshore‑structuring firms act as introducers for foreign migration programs, signing introducer agreements rather than direct service contracts.
- This arrangement keeps them outside the filing regime and reduces exposure to regulatory costs.
Clients seeking advice abroad
Compliant firms inside China will be limited to services related to residence permits and long‑term visas; citizenship planning falls outside their permitted scope. Consequently, many applicants will travel abroad for advisory services, benefitting firms in neighboring jurisdictions:
- Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore already host sizable Chinese communities on long‑term visas.
- These markets are positioned to capture demand for offshore advisory services and citizenship planning.
The pattern repeats each time Beijing tightens controls: demand does not vanish, it relocates to the nearest accessible service providers.
Source article: www.imidaily.com
