Yeah, there are pro's and con's when it comes to Z-visas and Residence Permits. I for one like working on an RP, but sometimes there can be complications. Last year my RP was valid for only six months. When I had to renew it, there were problems, extra paperwork, I needed to get four more photos ( PSB said my photos were to small ) , would have been better to give me the one year RP in the first place.

I also know of situations where honest Chinese universities have gone to the trouble of organizing the paperwork for an FT to obtain a Z-visa in their home city, which can be time consuming and stressful for the employer, only to have those FT's not turn up to start their contract. This happened twice at one university I know of.

So those colleges might think ,"Why should I bother? ", better to just employ someone on an L visa. Also like you said, it is much easier for an FT to do a runner on an L visa obviously, then on an RP. There are ramifications for FT's who do runners on Z-visas. They need to then return to their home country and apply for a new job in a different province, obtain a new Z-visa, then return to China.

Or there may be an attempt to blacklist the teacher in many provinces, as happened to a poster on this board recently who did a runner from a school North-west Chinese province, then found out he was on a blacklist in Hubei province.

Some people feel a Z-visa and RP gives them protection, others think an RP restricts them and lessens their options.

I can see both sides of the coin.