I think vast majority of employers will blindly follow instructions given to them by higher or more senior authorities - without challenging them.

But my take on the current pandemic and its consequences is that in near-term (as in right now) there are more talented foreigners trying to get out of the country (permanently) than trying to get here from abroad.

Also in long-term future, I think foreigners already residing here and switching between employers (or visa/residence permit types) will contribute much more to the overall movement of foreign work force than they do now.

This development would push local authorities to change their implementations on the OP matter.

If I was the Chinese government or a legit employer, I would much rather give jobs to foreigners who are educated or otherwise experienced in China, than newbies who've never been here.

On the other hand, if I was a shady and non-legit employer, I would do the exact opposite and hire those green ones.

When I was arranging my work visa and work permit, I was simultaneously the employee and the manager/owner of the company that I was going to work for. Thus I did all the paperwork on employer side as well.

The website where the employer submits the relevant paperwork, had a separate section for foreign staff who would acquire the work permit while already in China, without leaving the country (and without needing any visa for re-entry).

In my opinion this is clearly an option, and because it makes no sense (for any relevant entity) to require legit persons to spend time and money traveling back and forth, I suspect it is another case of central government's policies not fully implemented - and remaining so until employers and employees request and require it to be implemented.

That said, this is something that few Chinese employers would be willing to pursue.

But in current situation with all the above mentioned travel restrictions etc in place, now would be the time to seek that road.

Although, if ones sanity is already in a downward spiral, the last thing he would need is some depressing ukulele music.

A bit off-topic/generic comments about these issues:

I've lived in 3 complexes during my stay here so far, and all have had an in-apartment electric water heater that delivers hot water to shower and other places in the apartment. These have all been high-rises, where I guess solar heating water on the roof for so many apartments wouldn't even be feasible?

In our latest apartment up north (in a new residential area) we are the first residents to live in. For example in child-securing balcony and other windows the landlord told us that if we have these installed on our own cost, they may compensate when we leave - if we stay fur sufficiently long time (3+ years) that is. If we move out sooner than that, they won't.

Also I want to mention the funniest in-apartment water heater that I experienced in a small hotel in Hong Kong a few years ago.

The heater was on the wall in shower space, and when you turned on hot water in the shower, it flared up a fire fed by gas outlet and started heating the water container above it.

While it wasn't sufficient to heat the air in the shower room, it felt a bit like sauna back in my home country, with open fire next to you in there.

Begs the question, which "laws and regulations" are they talking about this time.

In Chinese jargon everything here always happens and has happened according to relevant laws and regulations.

Only noteworthy change would be, if "local circumstances and implementations" (= power of local leadership to adjust those) would be removed from picture.

Otherwise it's just blah.