How to Write a Resume in China in 2026

The Chinese resume — 简历 (Jiǎnlì) — follows conventions that differ significantly from both Western and Japanese documents. Chinese employers, particularly at major internet companies and state-owned enterprises, process enormous application volumes and have highly specific expectations for what a competitive resume contains.

Chinese Resume Format

Length: One to two pages. For fresh graduates applying through campus recruitment (校园招聘), one page is the strong preference — major companies like Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu receive hundreds of thousands of campus applications per cycle and their ATS systems are optimised for concise documents. Experienced professionals may use two pages.

Passport-style photograph: Required. A formal passport-style photograph in the top-right corner is standard and expected. The photo should show professional dress (suit or business attire), a plain white or light blue background, and be recently taken. Unlike the US where a photo invites discrimination concerns, in China it is a firm convention. A photobooth-quality passport photo — not a smartphone selfie — is appropriate.

File format: PDF for most private sector applications. Some large SOEs (State-Owned Enterprises) and government entity online portals use their own ATS forms where you paste information. Always save a PDF version.

Personal Information

Chinese resumes include a comprehensive personal information section:

• Full Chinese name (and English name if you have one, or pinyin romanisation)
• Date of birth (年/月/日)
• Gender (性别)
• Nationality (国籍) — for foreign nationals applying in China
• Current city of residence
• Mobile number (Chinese +86 number if applying within China)
• WeChat ID (微信号) — in China, WeChat is used for professional communication and listing it is normal
• Email address (Tencent QQ mail, NetEase 163, and Chinese university emails are all acceptable)
• No marital status required in formal practice, though sometimes included

University Tier — The Critical Signal

China's university hierarchy is among the most consequential in any country's job market:

985 Universities (39 institutions): China's elite research universities established under Project 985. Peking University (北大), Tsinghua University (清华), Fudan (复旦), Shanghai Jiao Tong (交大), Zhejiang University (浙大), USTC (中科大), RUC (人大) are the Tier 1 prestige names. A 985 degree is an immediate shortlisting signal at top companies.

211 Universities (~116 institutions): The second tier, still highly respected. Many major employers set 211 as a minimum educational threshold.

Double First-Class (双一流): The current classification system (since 2017) replacing 985/211, though industry still uses the old terminology widely.

For foreign graduates applying in China: a degree from a QS Top 100 university is the rough international equivalent of a 985 institution in terms of employer perception.

GPA/Weighted Average Score (加权平均分): List your GPA on the relevant scale (4.0 in some systems; 百分制 100-point scale in many Chinese universities). For 985/211 institutions, a score above 85/100 or GPA above 3.5/4.0 is competitive.

Internship Experience — The Competition Before the Competition

Campus recruitment at top companies is intensely competitive. The primary differentiator among 985/211 graduates is internship experience. An internship at Alibaba, ByteDance, Tencent, Meituan, JD.com, Huawei, or DiDi is a powerful signal — it demonstrates that you cleared their own competitive internship screening first.

List internships in reverse chronological order with company name, team/department, your role, dates, and two to three bullet points of specific contributions and outcomes. In Chinese corporate culture, noting the team or business unit (e.g., "Alibaba Cloud — Storage and CDN Business Unit") adds specificity that senior-level listing does not.

Key Sections

教育背景 (Education): Reverse chronological. Include university, degree, major, dates, and weighted average score.

实习/工作经历 (Internship/Work experience): Reverse chronological. This is the most scrutinised section.

技能 (Skills): Programming languages, software tools, data analysis tools (Python, SQL, Excel, Tableau). For finance roles: Bloomberg, Wind (万得) terminal proficiency. For marketing: Baidu Analytics, Toutiao Ads Manager.

奖项荣誉 (Awards and Honours): China's competitive academic culture produces many measurable distinctions — academic scholarships (奖学金), competition awards (ACM-ICPC, Mathematical Olympiad, MCM/ICM), and academic excellence titles. Include these; they matter.

Communist Party Membership (党员)

Some Chinese CVs — particularly for roles at SOEs, government agencies, and party-affiliated organisations — include Party membership status. For the private sector and tech companies, this is optional and not expected. For positions in the public sector or at institutions where ideological alignment is valued, noting "中共党员" (Member of the Chinese Communist Party) is appropriate.

Key Mistakes to Avoid

• Unexplained gaps: Any period longer than two months without explanation creates suspicion in Chinese hiring culture — attribute it explicitly to job-seeking, travel, study, or personal reasons
• No WeChat ID: Omitting your WeChat contact information in a Chinese domestic application creates a real communication barrier
• Vague internship descriptions: "Assisted with operations" conveys nothing — describe the specific team, tool, or metric
• Non-Chinese university without explanation: If you studied abroad, briefly contextualise the institution's ranking and reputation for Chinese employers unfamiliar with it