Time, energy and life paths / Chapter 31

What options are available after turning 18?

17 items~72 min read

This section deals with money and time, while the option of avoiding military service also affects personal freedom. It serves as a roadmap of possible paths, not a step‑by‑step guide for any single one. First, we list the legal requirements for each path. Then we describe the details that become relevant only after you decide to pursue them: what benefits military service provides, other ways to enter the civil service besides the civil service exam, which college majors directly lead to government positions, how to later upgrade your education, what kind of employers to seek for overseas work, how to handle social insurance without a formal job, and whether there are government loans that cover part of the interest for those lacking startup capital.

Let us be clear: after turning 18 there are many more options than those covered here. We only include paths for which nationwide official documents specify eligibility criteria, requirements, and benefits. Paths such as joining state‑owned enterprises, working in factories, becoming a seafarer, pursuing freelance work, or continuing high school or university lack such uniform documentation. They are certainly possible, but without verifiable legal references we cannot describe their conditions in this book.

Choosing a path is entirely up to you. This section provides two things only: the official documents that set the eligibility rules, and the deadlines and qualifications that expire once you start down a particular route. How to weigh the decision between studying and working, and how to pick relevant skills, is explained in Section 23. Overtime pay, workplace injuries, and severance after joining a job are covered in Section 19. Starting or closing a business is discussed in Section 12. Studying abroad is the topic of Section 32, while safety nets for the unemployed are outlined in Section 7. None of those topics are repeated here.

Check the thresholds first: for most of the 12 paths, age and education are written into the documents

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The thresholds of these 12 paths are, for the most part, written in the documents. Paid work requires age 16 or older. For the military, men must be 18 or older, and college graduates can be relaxed to 24. …

In the year you turn 18, military service registration has to be done before October (10) 31; conscript active duty is 2 years

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Military service registration is a legal duty. It is not an application to enlist, and registering does not mean you have to go. Men who turn 18 that year must finish registering online before October (10) 31. …

Refusing military service after enlistment: no travel abroad, no further education, and barred from civil service and state-owned enterprises for two years

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If you sign up and then refuse to serve, and still do not correct it after being ordered to, the consequences come as a set. …

The 2 concrete benefits for college students who enlist: tuition covered at up to 20000 yuan a year, student status kept until 2 years after discharge, and a dedicated postgraduate plan

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Current students, graduating students, and newly admitted students who enlist have the tuition for their years in school paid by the state. …

Only six scenarios allow the government to assign jobs after discharge; those opting for self-employment must register within 30 days

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The notion that “the military guarantees job placement” no longer applies broadly. Currently, only six specific scenarios qualify for government job assignments. …

The 3 accounts after discharge: a lump-sum discharge payment, service years counted as work seniority, and 20000 yuan a year off the tax if you work for yourself

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After discharge there are 3 accounts. The first is a lump-sum discharge payment for people who take the self-employment path. It is paid by years of active service, and it is increased if you were decorated. …

The civil service exam is not the only way into the system: finish 2 years in a grassroots service project and you can apply for the directed recruitment plan of about 10% each year

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Getting into the system is not only the civil service exam. …

Teachers in the Special Post Program who complete three years of service, pass evaluations, and wish to stay should be promptly added to the official teaching staff

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The Special Post program is among the few paths that write down "brought onto the regular staff when the term ends." …

Firefighters and civilian personnel in the military represent two additional pathways for public recruitment, with lower entry requirements than civil service exams

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Neither pathway imposes the “minimum associate degree or higher” requirement. …

A diploma does not have to be settled the first time: the self-study exam has no limit on age or prior education, the adult college entrance exam and the Open University can both fill the gap, a diploma counts only if Xuexin («学信网») can find it, and do not sign up for a "no exam, guaranteed pass" class

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If school did not work out at 18, there are still 3 regular routes: the self-study exam, the adult college entrance exam, and the Open University. …

Not joining a company means you must arrange your own social insurance: you’ll need to enroll in pension and medical plans at your place of work, as household registration restrictions have now been lifted

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Not being employed by a company doesn’t mean you’re exempt from social insurance; it simply means no employer covers half of the cost. …

Food delivery workers, ride‑hailing drivers, and local freight carriers all get occupational injury coverage paid for by the platform on a per‑order basis — at no cost to them

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Platforms must pay occupational injury insurance premiums for every order placed by delivery workers, ride‑hailing drivers, and local freight carriers — none of that cost falls on the workers themselves. …

Two paths that can largely lock in a staff post on the day you fill in college preferences: government-funded teacher-training students and targeted medical students, at the cost of 6 years of service

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Both paths are the state paying first, and you then working for 6 years at the assigned place after graduation, under the agreement. …

Before going abroad to work, check whether the company has a license for international labor cooperation: it is illegal for them to demand a deposit from you

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When it comes to working overseas, the law regulates not the workers themselves but the companies that arrange their employment. …

Working remotely for a foreign company from home: this income is considered domestic earnings for tax purposes; you must file your own individual income tax returns, and incoming payments should be reported as “employee compensation”

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Whether this money counts as domestic or foreign depends on where you do the work, not on where the money is sent from. …

If you work for yourself instead of joining an employer, look first at a startup guarantee loan for the startup money: up to 300000 yuan for an individual, with public finance covering half the interest