Should you state your sex or gender in China?

In practice: Often requested on forms; photo indicates gender

Should you include a national ID number in China?

In practice: Sometimes requested

Resume rules in China

Q: Should you put a photo on your CV in China?

In practice: Expected, standard across all industries; professional headshot mandatory What the law says: Not found specific law; data-protection concerns not prevalent in CV context

Q: Should you include your date of birth in China?

In practice: Expected, commonly requested on application forms and in CV

Q: Should you state your marital status in China?

In practice: Often requested on structured forms; expected in traditional CV formats

Q: Should you state your nationality in China?

In practice: Expected, work permit and visa status verification required

What employers in China expect on a 简历 (jiǎnlì), what the law lets them ask for, and where the two disagree.

Call it a CV for China, a resume for China, or 简历 (jiǎnlì): it's the same document. Employers there usually want it written in Mandarin Chinese, English.

This is research, not legal advice. Employment and data protection law changes, state and provincial rules matter in federal countries, and practice varies by industry and seniority. Each entry shows when it was looked up and how confident we are. Where nothing reliable was published it says Not found rather than a guess.

Law and practice, side by side

The label on the right is what local hiring expects. The two lines under it are the law and the habit, which often disagree.

Photo: Expected

Expected, standard across all industries; professional headshot mandatory

What the law says: Not found specific law; data-protection concerns not prevalent in CV context

Date of birth: Expected

Expected, commonly requested on application forms and in CV

Marital status: Not found

Often requested on structured forms; expected in traditional CV formats

Sex or gender: Not found

Often requested on forms; photo indicates gender

Nationality: Expected

Expected, work permit and visa status verification required

National ID number: Not found

Sometimes requested

The rest of the entry

Local name of the document: 简历 (jiǎnlì)
Language to submit in: Mandarin Chinese, English
Typical length: 1-2 pages
Address detail expected: Contact information expected
Signature and date: Not mentioned
Officially prescribed form: None identified
Religion, ethnicity or caste: Not found protections; name-based assessment possible
Health, disability or pregnancy: Sometimes requested on application forms; health status and pregnancy may be asked
Other customary attachments: Two CV versions (Chinese and English) typically submitted; photo required in both
Anti-discrimination statutes: PRC Labour Law; PRC Employment Promotion Law; Regulation on Employment of the Disabled; Law on Protection of Women's Rights and Interests (2023)
Local language source: English only

Where this came from

Looked up 2026-08-15. Independently checked 2026-08-15. High confidence. Result of that check: Corrected.

Notes: No legal statutes found governing CV requirements. Employer expectations differ markedly from Western practice: photo required, personal details (DOB, marital status, health) routinely requested on application forms without legal restriction. Chinese CV practice emphasizes personal information collection; Western data-protection concepts do not apply. Bilingual submission (Chinese and English) is standard for international roles.

Researched with AI assistants working from a written checklist, then independently checked. How we researched this