For a country that gives you a contract as a false security, nothing can really be considered a guarantee. It's what your guanxi and money can make happen, that is the only guarantee in China.

Be careful with internship as not all companies can offer this kind of situation to a foreigner due to the restrictions imposed on visa.

I have gone through this situation, and I can assure you that you finally pay from your pocket to get your visa through an agency to handle your procedure.....

I think internships are great stepping stones and can definitely help you move up the career ladder in the long-run. Many internships offer the potential for full-time employment after the internship ends. And if you manage to land an internship at a world renowned organization like the UN or something, that'll look fantastic on your resume and will totally work in your favor later on...

it's a way to get free labor. i know a few who the company "tried out" for a month or 2 without pay. you want to know what they all had in common , those positions were vacant for over a year at least

usually it should be paid, otherwise it really might be free labor...
i know some companies even pay the flight, accomodation, visa, insurance and little salary

I've heard of low paid internships, I went through one myself, but a no pay internship, somethings fishy and it's not the Chinese air. NO WAY NOWAY NO WAY.

Think about this:

If it is un-paid how will you support yourself housing, bills, food ect?
If you have the finance sorted out thats cool.

Then what benefit will it have for you?
If you are working for a MNC thats good. if it as a company that doesnt develop your future, enhance your skills, and provide you with stable emplyment afterwards then don't go.

In the end you are working for peanuts and made to do work that is more than what you signed up for.

With regards to this question, let me share what I've noticed nowadays. Companies often love the unpaid internship, particularly when the candidate is desperate to gain a paid position. Unpaid labor scrambling to please is the very best type of slavery our modern recession can produce. For some - especially university students - an internship is inescapable if one is going to have any exposure to the working world whatsoever. Here's how to get an internship, along with some internship tips for parlaying it into a (rightly) paid position. By the way, you can use an installment loan if you need help getting by while in an unpaid internship.
 

It really comes down to what type of skills you think you can learn from it and if it's an area of work you are looking to get into full time.  Like others side if you aren't getting paid how will you survive.

In my opinion if they aren't willing to pay you then they probably aren't going to help with visa or housing stuff as well. And in many cases in China if they don't offer you any pay they are just looking for free labor and they don't really care about teaching you new skills to help you int he future.

I know someone who worked at a low wage internship for a "marketing" company. She basically just sat on the phone and called people all day trying to sell stuff. Not really any special skill thats going to help you get a good career in the future.