Leaving Beijing is the newcomer checklist in reverse, and it rewards the same habit: start early, work in order, and keep paper for everything. Permits, housing, money, and tax do not close themselves when your flight leaves, and some can only be settled while you are still in the city. It is general orientation, not legal or tax advice; confirm any step that turns on your contract or permit type with your employer or the relevant service window first.
First: work permit and residence status
If you are leaving a job, the work permit step belongs to your employer — but make sure it happens. The official Beijing page on Cancelling Work Permits in China states that when a foreigner terminates a contract early or ends the employment relationship, the employer shall apply for cancellation to the decision-making institution within ten working days of the event. The application needs a cancellation form, a termination certificate signed by both parties, and the work permit itself. If cancelled, the institution issues a certificate upon application: ask for it and keep it. A permit that simply expires without renewal is cancelled automatically, and in that case no certificate is issued.
Do not assume that cancelling the work permit settles your residence status. Ask your employer and the exit-entry authority what status you hold between your last working day and your departure, before booking non-refundable travel. The background is in the Beijing work visa basics guide. Moving to another employer in China instead? Talk to the new employer about transfer procedures, not closure.
Second: housing and the lease
Read your lease before you give notice, not after. The notice period, the handover condition, and the deposit terms are contract terms: this guide states no standard period or amount, because yours is whatever you signed. Give notice in writing, keep a copy, and agree the handover in advance — meter readings, keys, and the condition of the apartment, photographed on the day. Get handover and deposit settlement in writing, and keep the landlord’s contact details: these settlements most often drag on after departure.
For shipping and pets, start early: carrier, customs, and animal transport requirements are set by the carrier and the authorities involved, and this guide does not summarise them. Check your destination’s current requirements before you pack.
Third: money still owed to you
Two accounts are easy to forget and hard to reconstruct from abroad: social insurance and the housing provident fund. The social insurance and housing fund guide explains both systems; the departure actions follow.
For the housing fund, the official Beijing Housing Fund page states that foreign nationals depositing into the Beijing fund can apply to cancel their account and withdraw the money in it when terminating employment, provided the account has been officially sealed. Ask your employer to seal the account, then apply through the online personal business platform on the fund center website or at a fund business counter. The online route runs through “I Want to Withdraw” to the item for foreign nationals ending employment, and payment goes to the applicant’s co-branded card account. Keep that card open until the money lands, and keep the business receipt the page describes.
For social insurance, do not assume a refund or a transfer: ask your employer and the social insurance window what, if anything, can be settled, transferred, or closed on departure, and what records you need. Keep your own file regardless — contracts, payslips, contribution confirmations, receipts — because reconstructing paperwork after you have left is much harder.
Fourth: tax, before and after you leave
Leaving does not necessarily end your tax year. The individual income tax guide explains the annual settlement: for tax residents, the reconciliation window runs from March 1 to June 30 of the following year, and first-time users of the Individual Income Tax app or the Natural Person E-Tax Platform need a registration code from a taxpayer service hall. Before you leave, keep your app access working, keep the year’s payslips and deduction documents, and ask a tax hall whether anything about your departure year must be settled before you go or can wait for the settlement window. If a refund is due after you have left, it will need a working bank account and a reachable phone number.
Fifth: bank, phone, and driving
Close accounts in the order money stops flowing, not the order that feels tidy. Keep your bank account and your Chinese phone number until the last expected payment has arrived — housing fund withdrawal, deposit settlement, any tax refund — because several depend on a local account or SMS verification. Only then close or downgrade: settle autopay and subscriptions first, move balances deliberately, and keep statements for the departure year. Setup is covered in the payments, SIM, and banking guide.
If you drove, close that chapter too: return the rental car, settle outstanding charges or violations with the rental company before departure, and keep the return receipt. The driving guide covers licenses and rentals.
Final-week checklist
- Termination certificate, signed by both parties, in hand.
- Work permit cancellation applied for; cancellation certificate requested and filed.
- Residence status after the last working day confirmed.
- Lease notice in writing; handover photographed and signed; deposit settlement in writing.
- Housing fund account sealed; withdrawal applied for; co-branded card open until payment lands.
- Social insurance position asked about in person; records and receipts filed.
- Departure-year tax documents gathered; app access kept; tax hall asked about pre-departure steps.
- Bank account and phone number kept until the last expected payment, then closed or downgraded.
- Rental car returned with a receipt; subscriptions and autopay settled; statements saved.
- One folder, paper and digital, holding all of the above — carried with you, not left in the apartment.
Work through that list in order and the departure stays boring, which is exactly what you want it to be.