Just out of curiousity does the British council hire fulltime examiners in China? I was just curious if they only hired part time or free lance workers? Just seems interesting that a institute like the British Council would essentially ask people in China to work illegally (under the strictest letter of the law a residents permit is issued for one emplyer only) Doesn't seem to fit in with their so called ethical non for profit business ideals.
As of 2004 when I last dealt with them, they did not hire full-time examiners. Nor would they provide a letter to help you get a business visa. They seemed to regard getting a visa, and if necessary permission from your school for the outside work, as entirely your problem. Contracts I have seen generally allow outside work with permission, though I'm not certain what the letter of the law is on this.
As of 2004, they also thought they'd likely soon have permission to open Council-run schools in China. I have yet to hear of any, though.
It may also be worth noting that it is non purely a British Council show here. There are three organisations involved -- the Council, an Aussie group called IDP Education, and the Cambridge testing group. In some places, IELTS is run by only one group -- the Council in most of Eastern Europe, the Aussies in various Pacific islands. In others, such as Japan, both are present and they compete. China was (as of 2004 again) the only place where they run it together as a joint venture.