Get yourself a business visa. You may normally only hold one China visa at a time, so make it a useful one.
The added flexibility will pay for any up front fiddling, and you can avoid the additional time and costs of special handling letters and escort staff if you have to enter or depart as pax on a commercial flight (or by road!).
I've had a hot/cold relationship with crew visas over the past ten years. After being intercepted by immigration for the umpteenth time for repositioning on a commercial flight with a crew visa, the CIQ supervisor told me to get a business visa and stop causing trouble. Good advice! I have never had a problem with a business visa, travelling as crew or as pax.
Regardless: keep your handler in the loop with what you have. They can't help if they don't know.
Happy trails