On 1 July 2011, theMinistry of Foreign Affairs launched a trial issuance of e-passports for individuals conducting public affairs work overseas on behalf of the Chinese government.[3][4] The face, fingerprints, and otherbiometric features of the passport holder aredigitized and stored in pre-installed contactlesssmart chip,[5][6] along with "the passport owner's name, sex and personal photo as well as the passport's term of validity and [the] digital certificate of the chip".[7] Ordinary biometric passports were introduced by theMinistry of Public Security on 15 May 2012.[8] As of January 2015, all new passports issued by China are biometric e-passports, and non-biometric passports are no longer issued.[7]
In 2012, over 38 million Chinese citizens held ordinary passports, comprising only 2.86 percent of the total population at the time.[9] In 2014, China issued 16 million passports, ranking first in the world, surpassing the United States (14 million) and India (10 million).[10] The number of ordinary passports in circulation rose to 120 million by October 2016, which was approximately 8.7 percent of the population.[11] As of April 2017 to date, China had issued over 100 million biometric ordinary passports.[12]
Articles 3, 4, 5 and 8 of thePassport Law of the People's Republic of China, which went into effect in 2007, declares three types of passports issued in China:[13]
Ordinary passports (普通护照) 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 theMinistry of Public Security (MPS), the foreign missions of the People's Republic of China, or other missions overseas authorized to do so by theMinistry of Foreign Affairs.
Diplomatic passports (外交护照) are issued todiplomats,consuls and their spouses or children who are minor, as well as to diplomatic couriers. They are issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).
Service passports (公务护照) 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.
Article 9 of theLaw states that the "issuing scope of diplomatic passports and service passports, the measures for issue of such passports, their terms of validity and the specific categories of service passports shall be prescribed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs".
The ordinary passport is considered a passport "for private affairs" (因私护照), while service (including for public affairs passports) and diplomatic passports are passports "for public affairs" (因公护照).[15]
The passports forMacau andHong KongSARs 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.[14] The launch date of biometric ordinary passports was May 15, 2012.
The front personal-information data page of a Chinese passport for public affairs issued in 1990
In 1996, 77% of persons exiting China held a passport for public affairs.[17] The rate had dropped to 39% by 2002.[18] 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.[16] Chinese regulations require public affairs passports to be kept in the possession of the holder'swork unit,[19] and they must be surrendered by the individual within one month of returning to China.[20]
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 2006Passport 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.
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.[2] It was released to the general public in May 2012. The passport contains 48 pages.
Biodata page of the Form "97-2" PRC Ordinary Passport
The note page and biodata page of the version "97-2" passport for single travel since 2019
The Form "97-2" ordinary Chinese passport is amachine-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 (P)
Country Code (CHN)
Passport number (G########) - consists of one letter indicating passport type (G = ordinary), followed by eight digits
Surname
Given Names
Sex (M/F)
Date of birth (DD.MMM.YYYY)
Date of issue (DD.MMM.YYYY)
Place of birth (Province, or city/province/state if born abroad)
Place of issue (Province, or city/province/state of diplomatic/consular authority if issued abroad)
Date of expiry (DD.MMM.YYYY)
Authority ("National Immigration Administration, PRC" for single travel or "Exit & Entry Administration, Ministry of Public Security" or the Chinese diplomatic and consular mission)
Inside page of a PRC Ordinary E-Passport, 2012 versionInside page of a PRC Ordinary E-Passport, 2019 version
In the biometric Passport, the personal data page was moved to a separate sheet of paper, and the design of personal data page has been amended significantly, adding the full name of PRC in Simplified Chinese and English on top along with an e-passport symbol printed withoptically variable ink. New security features include a second ghost image of the holder and additional holographic graphs including the PRC emblem and the laser-printed world map. The details included are as follows:
Passport code (P)
Country Code (CHN)
Passport number (E########) - consists of one letter indicating passport type (E = e-passport), 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 (except I, O) the third digit is still Arabic numerals, and the total number of digits is still 9. New passport numbers started with EA0000001 (two letters with seven digits).[12]
Name (Chinese characters on top, Pinyin transcription on bottom, a comma separates surname and given names in Pinyin only)
Sex (M/F)
Nationality (Chinese)
Date of birth (DD.MMM.YYYY)
Place of birth (Province with romanized transcription, or the country code if born abroad, along with Chinese abbreviation of the country)
Date of issue (DD.MMM.YYYY, month is transcribed into Arabic numerals)
Place of issue (Province, or city of diplomatic/consular authority if issued abroad)
Date of expiry (DD.MMM.YYYY, month is transcribed into Arabic numerals)
Authority ("National Immigration Administration, PRC" or the full name of the Chinese diplomatic/consular authority, if issuing in mainland China before June 2019 it may be "MPS Exit & Entry Administration"[21][22])
Le Ministère des Affaires étrangères de la République populaire de Chine prie les autorités civiles et militaires des pays étrangers de laisser passer librement le titulaire de ce passeport et de lui prêter aide et assistance en cas de besoin.
If the passport is for single travel, a valid notice will printed in Simplified Chinese and English on this page.
On version "97-1" and "97-2", the note is on page 1. On the biometric version, it is moved to page 3.
Transparent pattern on page 26 under black lightPage 42 Xinjiang Page 43 TaiwanPage 44 Hong Kong SAR and Page 45 Macau SARPage 24 and 25: Great wall and Map of China (includingTaiwan and thenine-dash line)
In the biometric version, selected nature hotspots and famous sights of mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan are printed in the inner pages, each page also contains a transparent watermark of another nature hotspots and famous sights in the same area.
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
The fee for a Chinese passport isCNY 120. When applying for a passport overseas, the fee isUS$25 or€20. No extra fees are charged for expedited processing if approved.[23]
Normal processing time is 10 business days when applying from mainland China, and 15 business days from Chinese diplomatic missions outside mainland China (including Hong Kong and Macau). In some Regions, processing time is 7 business days such as Shanghai City if application was submitted electronically (online or by cell phone APPs such asWeChat).[24] 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.[25]
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:
TheTravel Permit to and from Taiwan, colloquially known as Mainland Compatriot Permit or Mainland Resident Travel Permit, is issued to Chinese citizens withhukou inMainland China byMinistry of Public Security, to those who wish to travel directly between mainland China andTaiwan. Holders of the permit are required to obtain exit endorsements issued by MPS andExit and Entry Permit issued by Taiwanese authorities prior to traveling. This permit as well as a valid exit endorsement (except for Group Tourist Endorsement) is still required even if only transiting through Taiwan without leaving the sterile area of the airport when departing from airports of mainland China except forChongqing,Nanchang, orKunming. Exit and Entry Permit is not required, however, when not leaving the sterile area ofTaoyuan Airport on transit to the third place regardless of the city of departure.
Holders of Chinese biometric Passports are eligible to use the Self-Service Immigration System, or e-Channel. E-Channel are located throughout numerous international airports in mainland China (including these top 10 busiest international gateways:Beijing Capital International Airport,Shanghai Pudong International Airport,Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport,Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport andChengdu Tianfu International Airport) as well as land border crossing checkpoints inShenzhen andZhuhai. e-Channel was first introduced for self-entry, i.e. for Chinese biometric passport holders return to China from Outside destinations. In order to use the e-Channel, they must hold biometric passports with their fingerprint data pre-recorded on the biometric chip. If their biometric passports do not contain fingerprint data, they must first register withChina Immigration Inspection (CII) at land border checkpoints or international airports to be eligible.[43]
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.[44]
Starting from Dec 1, 2017, Shanghai international airports including PVG and SHA both have e-Channel for exit.[45]
The extended list of eligible travelers is:[46][44]
Registration with CII not required:
Holders of biometric passports that contain fingerprint data;
Holders of the new biometricTwo-way Permits with valid entry endorsements that contain fingerprint data.
Registration with CII required:
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 (only for the specific port of entry that they have registered with);
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 map for Chinese citizens with an ordinary Chinese passport
Mainland China
Entry–Exit Permit for Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR required
Visa not required
Visa available both on arrival or online
Visa on arrival
eVisa
Visa required in advance
Visa can be issued, but tourism admission highly possibly refused
Tourism admission restricted
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 Kiribati Ministry of Foreign Affairs to all Chinese citizen for tourism purpose.[47][48] Chinese passport is also the highest-ranked passport amongCommunist 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 (EVUS) 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.[49]
Issued to Chinese citizens withHukou or Chinese citizens not qualified for SAR-issued travel documents, Chinese passports cannot normally be used when travelling directly toHong Kong,Macau, orTaiwan from mainland China.
In order for such Chinese citizens to travel from mainland China to Hong Kong and Macau, aTwo-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. Chinese passports can be used when transiting through Hong Kong or Macau to other countries and can enter Hong Kong or Macau for 7 days without a visa.
Travelling to Taiwan from mainland China requires theTravel Permit to and from Taiwan as well asExit and Entry Permit issued by the Taiwanese government. Although Chinese passports are accepted as valid travel documents by the National Immigration Agency (NIA) and Taiwanese diplomatic missions,[50] 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.
^Total number includes tourists, business people, students, exchange visitors, temporary workers and families, diplomats and other representatives and all other classes of non-immigrant admissions (I-94).
^"GovHK: HKSAR Passport". Retrieved7 January 2010. Note that: The passport is referred to both as the HKSAR Passport and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Passport.
^"护照、旅行证简介 — 中华人民共和国驻美利坚合众国大使馆".Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States of America. 2015-02-04. Archived fromthe original on 2022-11-03. Retrieved2022-02-12.
^"中华人民共和国护照法".Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China. 2006-04-29. Archived fromthe original on 2022-11-03. Retrieved2022-02-12.
), issued since May 2012
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