I still do not have this damn thing resolved and feel like going on a destructive rampage.
Well I got the docs from the old employer resolved and sent to me. However a new problem has reared its ugly head. After forking out 700 RMB for translations I am told they are not needed if I do it in the UK. That said they seem intent on me getting all the docs and jetting off back to China to do my visa there and I still must arrive by FEB 29.
That is all well and good but I am told that I have to have them notarised something I have just paid 1000 RMB for, only to then get some vague mention about legalisation with is something different. The Chinese visa centre took a few days to get in touch with after all contact details on their website proved to be dead links. They were not very helpful and just send " do as the employer asks" then send the documents for your Z application. Seemingly ignoring the part about my already having a residence permit and I was transferring to a new employer. The embassy website other than holiday notifications has not been updated since 2013, and can not be contacted for visas ( unless diplomatic) and thus I have to try and go through this "visa centre"
I then still somehow need to send the docs to the Chinese embassy for authentication, where they make a vague reference to legalised documents ( hence my ranting earlier). However they provide no information on how to do so or what address to send the documents to and as mentioned earlier and I can not contact them directly about this process for the visa documents.
EDIT - after I ordered the service the visa centre finally told me that I have to legalise the document. I have to wait 3 days for the translation then send it off pay >600 RMB then wait some more days. I now think I do not have enough time and the costs are really piling up.