There is no Chinese government requirement for a medical examination in your home country to
satisfy the requirements of issuing a Z visa ( the visa that permits you to work legally
as a teacher/instructor).

This is wholly incorrect and misleading. As per the new regulations this year, it is required. There is a form to complete, it must be signed and stamped by an official in the applicants country and the results sent to China before we can even apply for an invitation letter for a 'z' visa. I wish what you said was true it would make our lives a lot easier.

The Chinese employer provides a contract and letter of invitation - usually through your
email. You then take the documents including a medical questionnaire form (you can
download), and your passport to the Chinese Embassy in your home country with completed
forms and pay the fees. It can all be done by post in your home country and you pay for
the visa and the postal costs if the Chinese Embassy is some distance from where you
live and a personal visit is not practical.

You make everything sound so simple. Far from the case! Firstly we have to courier you the original letter of invitation, embassies will no longer accept copies. There are several other forms which we must also obtain which all takes time. All this has to be done through the provincial capital which is not so bad if you live there, in my schools case it is a twelve hour return trip. I have just finished processing our last foreign teachers paperwork and had to make six return trips to deal with this stuff. Then we have to courier the documents to the foreign teacher and hope that he/she does not decide to change their mind. Schools have a licence for a set number of foreign teachers and once an application is processing one of our available slots are used. If the foreign teacher becomes a no show, we then have to return to our provincial headquarters to void all the work we have done before we can even begin to think about hiring another foreign teacher. Another reason why schools are reluctant to hire anyone on less than an academic year contract.

When you arrive in China, usually within the first month the employer will take you to a
designated hospital for a medical which includes a blood and urine sample, and chest
X-Ray. I have never heard of there being exemptions for the X-Ray but the rules may
differ in different provinces. China still as a high incidence of tuberculosis (TB) so I
would be surprised if they did not take an X-Ray. The cost of the medical is about 400 -
500 renmenbi far less than the 700 dollars you might pay in your home country. Some
employers pay all the fees - others expect the new employee to pay.

This is correct. Even though you have had a medical, we still need to have this redone and certified by the local designated hospital (in our case a considerable distance) and submit the results to enable the processing of your resident permit. We pay for this not the foreign teacher and would never expect them to do so.