My passport has been damaged and i need to renew my residence permit and foreign expert permit this coming january 2013.
I was told that it's okay. the info page has not been damaged and still readable, but the immigration office in china may not agree.
can i still renew these two permit even if my passport has been damaged?

Who told you it would be okay; that's important?

I would dismiss it for now as one of life's little vicissitudes, and you will have to suck it and see after Christmas. All sorts of variables could come into play, depending on the degree of damage to what side of the bed the official gets out of that morning. If there is too much of even cosmetic damage, they could be generous and pop a vignette(temporary f visa) in your passport, allowing you time to renew your passport; however, would the degree of material damage disallow[make impossible] such an action? I do understand that vignettes are not normally necessary if you renew these certificates in China. Personally, I would treat this little hiccup with the contempt it deserves, have a gay Christmas, and don't even give it a thought until that day in January.