"He went to China." may refer to a specific occurrence, such as "Where did he go last summer?" or "How come I don't see him anymore?" "He has gone to China" may refer to a more general inquiry, like if you're asking if the person has ever been there in the past.

You are correct. "Has gone to China" can indicate that he went to China and still hasn't come back. "Went to China" just indicates that the action of going to China has happened. Depending on the context of the conversation, he may have come back from China or is still there. For example, if we are at work chatting and this conversation happens: You: "I'm looking for John, is he around?" Me: "No. He went home." I could have said "No. He has gone home." as well but it's a bit formal. Because you and I are at work and I said he wasn't, it's already clear from the conversation that John hasn't come back.

Conversation between Alicia and Juan, who are executives for a multinational. Alicia: Where's Jiro? Did he leave? (Has he gone yet?) Juan: Yeah, he went to China. (Yeah, he left for China/ he's gone.) Alicia: What? Where did he go? (Surprised.) Juan: He's gone to China. (He has gone to China.) In the example, Alicia knows that Jiro might (may have) left (departed) for somewhere else. Juan confirms that Jiro is not there anymore. When Alicia presses him more, because she is surprised, Juan intensifies (emphasizes) that "He went to China" by changing the form of his statement to "He has gone to China." Juan has clearly stated: Jiro departed for China = He has gone to China. Next case, Telling a story in the past. In his twenties, he went to China and studied Buddhism before taking his vows as a monk. English learners: Why can't I just say had? He had gone to China and had studied Buddhism before he became a monk. Answer: You can use had. But it is also correct to use "went" by itself, since you are just telling a story about something that happened in the past. The verb form "went" means that at some point in the past: He visited China. The perfect form using the participle "gone" means at some point in the past: He departed for China. And is no longer present at the location he departed from. Lastly, when speaking in a poetic or general way: "All the business capital flow for investors has gone to China, recently." In the above example: Has gone to China = Is going to China. "All the business capital is going to China, these days."