Is attending a conference on a Family Reunion Residence permit ok?

I'm holding a Q1 residence permit already for a couple of years. Normally I'm spending some of my time in Europe and the rest in China. It happened now that I am invited to a conference in your country while I'm in the EU. They cover all my travel expenses (to be more specific, they buy me plane ticket, pick me up from and return me to the airport, provide me accommodation and 3 meals a day. There is however no money involved in the trip). My host will be one of the public universities in CN. They sent me a letter and said I can apply for a F visa but doing so means I need to cancel my residence permit when for a F type and then go through a lot of difficulties to get it back. Is there any consequences then if I attend this event on my current Residence Permit? (I'm saying this because they may keep a copy of my permit for the accommodation registration)