Sorry to hear that the new regulation will not help your situation.

For the meantime, your best option may be to bide your time and see what the Chinese government does with regulations over the next couple of years. A gray-market visa agent in China would be able to convert your current visa (F I presume) into a new F for 6 months (or sometimes, 12 months) with multiple entries and no duration of stay limits. It won't be cheap though, for a US passport holder. This will buy time and flexibility.

Or you could look for a different employer that wouldn't have a problem sponsoring your Work Permit and Residence Permit (via the Z visa). This seems to me, to be the easiest solution of all.