The six-year rule is about when a non-domiciled individual can be pulled into worldwide IIT — it is not a tourist stamp game.
China’s IIT rules include a multi-year presence concept often called the six-year rule: unbroken long stays can expand tax scope for non-domiciled individuals, with departure breaks that may reset planning. Exact counting and exceptions are technical. The live guide /china-iit-6-year-rule-183-days already covers the narrative — this wiki is the atomic map entry that points there and to residence/departure pages. Do not treat a weekend in Hong Kong as automatic magic without checking current STA practice.
4 questions before you choose the route.
This page identifies the right question and evidence. It does not determine the legal outcome on a reader’s facts.
Are you non-domiciled?
Starting point.
StatusHow many consecutive years counted?
Live six-year guide.
YearsWas there a qualifying departure break?
Reset question.
BreakWorldwide income already in scope another way?
Treaty/residence.
ScopeWorking rule: Map the regulated role before marketing or launch in China.
The signal ledger.
These facts move the question beyond a label and into a product, money-flow and control analysis.
Bring a compact evidence docket—not a pitch deck.
Give a compliance team or counsel the operating facts that reveal the perimeter.
Questions people ask before they build.
Short answers for orientation. The right result can change with the service model and current rules.
Does one day outside China reset everything?
Not as a slogan. Read the live six-year guide for how breaks are analysed.
Where is departure clearance?
Open /tax-clearance-when-leaving-china and /china-expat-iit-departure-clearance.
Primary authorities
Reviewed sources support orientation, not a fact-specific assessment.