Chinese passport
The People's Republic of China passport is a passport issued to citizens of the People's Republic of China for the purpose of international travel, and entitles its bearer to the protection of China's consular officials overseas.
On 1 July 2011, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched a trial issuance of e-passports for individuals conducting public affairs work overseas on behalf of the Chinese government. The face, fingerprints, and other biometric features of the passport holder are digitized and stored in pre-installed contactless smart chip, along with "the passport owner's name, sex and personal photo as well as the passport's term of validity and digital certificate of the chip". Ordinary biometric passports were introduced by the Ministry of Public Security on 15 May 2012. As of January 2015, all new passports issued by China are biometric e-passports, and non-biometric passports are no longer issued.
In 2012, over 38 million Chinese citizens held ordinary passports, comprising only 2.86 percent of the total population at the time. In 2014, China issued 16 million passports, ranking first in the world, surpassing the United States and India. The number of ordinary passports in circulation rose to 120 million by October 2016, which was approximately 8.7 percent of the population. As of April 2017 to date, China had issued over 100 million biometric ordinary passports.
Overview and contents
Types
Articles 3, 4, 5 and 8 of the Passport Law of the People's Republic of China, which went into effect in 2007, declares three types of passports issued in China:- Ordinary passports are issued to citizens who intend to go abroad for non-official purposes, such as taking up residence in other countries, visiting relatives, studying, working, travelling or engaging in business activities. They are issued by the Exit & Entry Administration of the Ministry of Public Security, the foreign missions of the People's Republic of China, or other missions overseas authorized to do so by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Diplomatic passports are issued to diplomats, consuls and their spouses or children who are minor, as well as to diplomatic couriers. They are issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Service passports are issued to employees who are dispatched by the Chinese government to work for Chinese foreign missions, the United Nations or its special commissions, or other international organizations, as well as their spouses or minor children. They are issued by the MFA, foreign missions of the People's Republic of China, other missions overseas authorized by the MFA, or the Foreign Affairs Offices under the governments of provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government and cities divided into districts authorized by the MFA.
- * A special variation of the service passport, called the Passport for Public Affairs, is issued to public servants who "lead divisions or equivalents" of county or state-owned companies, and employees of state-controlled companies.
The ordinary passport is considered a passport "for private affairs", while service and diplomatic passports are passports "for public affairs".
The passports for Macau and Hong Kong SARs are issued and regulated by the governments of these regions, and are therefore not covered by this law.
In July 2011 the Chinese government began to issue biometric diplomatic passports, service passports and passports for public affairs. The launch date of biometric ordinary passports was May 15, 2012.
Passport for public affairs
A different passport for public affairs was issued until 2006. Unlike the current version, it was classified as a variation of ordinary passport. The abuse of the use of document resulted in its subsequent cancellation. Unlike other passports, it was issued by the provincial or municipal Foreign Affairs Offices, rather than the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Ministry of Public Security. Chinese ordinary passport for public affairs was used at the end of the 1980s and the 1990s. The passport information was written by hand, and these ordinary passports were usually valid for 2 or 5 years.In 1996, 77% of persons exiting China held a passport for public affairs. The rate had dropped to 39% by 2002. The reason for the high rate of usage was because the passport for public affairs offered more visa-free countries, such as Russia, than the ordinary passport. Chinese regulations require public affairs passports to be kept in the possession of the holder's work unit, and they must be surrendered by the individual within one month of returning to China.
Validity
The passport previously had an across-the-board 5-year period of validity. Since 2007, ordinary passports are valid for 10 years for bearers above 16 years of age, and for 5 years for bearers below 16 years of age, and diplomatic or service passports are valid for 4 years. According to the 2006 Passport Law of the People's Republic of China, renewal of previously issued passports ended on January 1, 2007. However, passports renewed before 2007 remained valid until expiry.Format
The newest version of the regular Chinese passport is the biometric version, which replaced its predecessors "Form 92", "Form 97-1" and "Form 97-2", but Form "97-2" passport is still being issued for single group tourism to Russia in some Sino-Russia broder cities and valid for only 3 months or after returning to China. It was released to the general public in May 2012. The passport contains 48 pages.Ordinary Passport - Inside
Version "1982"
The Form "1982" ordinary Chinese passport is a hand-written passport and issued in 1982. Chinese, French and English are used in all pages.Version "1992"
The Form "1992" ordinary Chinese passport is not a machine-readable passport, and issued in 1992.Version "1997-1"
Version "1997-2"
The Form "97-2" ordinary Chinese passport is a machine-readable passport, and issued in February 1997.In "97-2", personal data is on the inside front cover along with a coloured photo printed with inkjet printer, with a protective film covering most of the data page. Details include:
- Passport code
- Country Code
- Passport number - consists of one letter indicating passport type, followed by eight digits
- Surname
- Given Names
- Sex
- Date of birth
- Date of issue
- Place of birth
- Place of issue
- Date of expiry
- Authority
- Machine Readable Code
Biometric passport
- Passport code
- Country Code
- Passport number - consists of one letter indicating passport type, followed by eight digits. As of April 2017, over 100 million ordinary biometric passports had been issued and old E+8 digits type passport numbers had been used up. So the number format has been extended by using the second digit and replacing it with the English letters in order the third digit is still Arabic numerals, and the total number of digits is still 9. New passport numbers started with EA0000001.
- Name
- Sex
- Nationality
- Date of birth
- Place of birth
- Date of issue
- Place of issue
- Date of expiry
- Authority
- Bearer's signature
- Machine Readable Code
Languages
All information is printed in Simplified Chinese and English, except for the "Attentions" page, which is only printed in Simplified Chinese.Passport Note
- In Simplified Chinese:
- In English:
- In French :
Inner pages
In the biometric version, selected natural landmarks and famous sights from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan are printed on the inner pages. Each page also features a transparent watermark depicting another landmark from the same region.Last page
The last page has the notes for the passport. For e-passport, inside the backcover, a caution for the biometric chip is written in both Chinese and English:
本护照内置敏感电子元件。为保持最佳性能，请不要将护照折弯、打孔或者暴露在极端温湿度环境。
This passport contains sensitive electronics. For best performance, please do not bend, perforate or expose to extreme temperatures or excess moisture.
请勿在此盖印 DO NOT STAMP HERE
Fee and processing time
The fee for a Chinese passport is CNY 120. When applying for a passport overseas, the fee is US$25 or €20. No extra fees are charged for expedited processing if approved.Normal processing time is 10 business days when applying from mainland China, and 15 business days from Chinese diplomatic missions outside mainland China. In some Regions, processing time is 7 business days such as Shanghai City if application was submitted electronically. Expedited processing is available for 5 business days, but is only available if the applicants have genuine emergencies, such as they have deceased relatives abroad, their first day of school is near, or they have unused visas in old passports that are expiring soon.
Non-passport travel documents
The following travel documents are also issued by mainland China to Chinese citizens who may or may not qualify for a Chinese passport for various reasons:Automatic immigration clearance (e-Channel)
Holders of Chinese biometric passports may use automatic immigration clearance, known as e-Channel. These lanes are available at major international airports in mainland China, including Beijing Capital, Shanghai Pudong, Shanghai Hongqiao, Guangzhou Baiyun and Chengdu Tianfu, as well as at land border crossings in Shenzhen and Zhuhai.E-Channel was originally introduced for returning Chinese citizens. Eligibility requires a biometric passport with fingerprint data stored on the chip. Travelers whose passports lack fingerprint data must first register with National Immigration Administration at an international airport or land border checkpoint.
Starting from August 19, 2016, passengers are able to use the e-Gates in terminal 2 of Beijing Capital International Airport to complete exit procedures from China as well. Starting from Dec 1, 2017, Shanghai international airports including PVG and SHA both have e-Channel for exit.
Eligibility
The extended list of eligible travelers is:Registration with NIA not required:
- Holders of biometric passports that contain fingerprint data;
- Holders of the new biometric Two-way Permits with valid entry endorsements that contain fingerprint data.
- Holders of the booklet-style Two-way Permits with multiple-entry endorsements;
- Holders of [|Travel Permit to and from Taiwan] for Mainland Residents booklet with multiple-exit endorsements;
- Holders of Exit and Entry Permits that are valid for one year and multiple entries ;
- Holders of Home Return Permits;
- Holders of Taiwan Compatriot Permits;
- Foreign nationals with their passports and Chinese Permanent Resident cards;
- Foreign nationals with their biometric passports and residence permits with a validity of more than 6 months; and
- Flight crew members serving scheduled flights who are either Chinese or visa-exempt nationals, or non-visa-exempt nationals holding crew or work visas or residence permits that are valid for at least 1 year.
Visa requirements
Visa requirements for Chinese citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of the People's Republic of China. As of 2025, Chinese citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 85 countries and territories, ranking the Chinese passport 60th in the world according to the Henley Passport Index. The latest visa exemption is granted by the Turkish government to all Chinese citizen for tourism purpose.Chinese passport is also the highest-ranked passport among Communist states. After Covid travel restriction was lifted, the resume of free-to-travel is on high demand as well as align to government's economic boosting strategy; Passport offices are also introducing new mobile-app allow hassle-free passport application or renew, together with video-call and facial recognition techniques to enable this service 24/7. According to Henley's report, Chinese Passport is the front runner for visa-free travel ranking among all countries.
The Electronic Visa Update System is introduced in 2016 for Chinese passport holder who hold a valid 10-year B1, B2, or B1/B2 visa to travel to the United States.
Travel to and from Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan
Chinese passports cannot normally be used when travelling directly to Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan from mainland China, except for transiting to another country.In order for such Chinese citizens to travel from mainland China to Hong Kong and Macau, a Two-way Permit is required. Chinese foreign missions, however, do issue visa-like Hong Kong SAR Entry Permits for up to 14 days to Chinese citizens residing outside mainland China upon request, so PRC passport holders can travel solely between Hong Kong and Mainland with passports.
Travelling to Taiwan from mainland China requires the Travel Permit to and from Taiwan as well as Exit and Entry Permit issued by the Taiwanese government. Although Chinese passports are accepted as valid travel documents by the National Immigration Agency and Taiwanese diplomatic missions, the NIA does not allow Chinese citizens with hukou to travel to Taiwan when departing from mainland China unless holding the Mainland Resident Travel Permit with valid exit endorsement.
Cross border travel statistics
These are the numbers of mainland Chinese visitors to various countries or territories:| Destination | Number of visitors | Year |
 American Samoa |