Chinese passport


The People's Republic of China passport, commonly referred to as the Chinese passport, is a passport issued to nationals of the People's Republic of China who have registered as a resident of Mainland China and hence hold a hukou, for the purpose of international travel, and entitles the bearer to the protection of China's consular officials overseas.
On 1 July 2011, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China 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 is digitalized 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 nationals 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, 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 Mainland China:
Article 9 of the Law 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", 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.
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". It was released to the general public in May 2012. The passport contains 48 pages.

Ordinary Passport - Inside

Form "97-2"
The Form "97-2" ordinary Chinese passport is a machine-readable passport.
In "97-2", personal data is on the inside front cover along with a coloured photo printed with inkjet printer, with a protection film covering most of the data page. Details include:
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 with optically 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:
All information is printed in Simplified Chinese and English, except for the "Attentions" page, which is only printed in Simplified Chinese.

Passport Note

On version "97-1" and "97-2", it is on page 1. On the biometric version, it is moved to page 3.

Inner pages

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.

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.

Special administrative region passports

Chinese nationals who are also permanent residents of Hong Kong or Macau Special Administrative Regions of the PRC are issued Hong Kong or Macau SAR passports by the respective immigration departments of the SARs. In Hong Kong, Hong Kong Immigration Department takes charge of issuing passports. In Macau, Identification Services Bureau does the same role. The SAR passports and travel documents are issued solely by the government of the SARs, and the designs differ greatly from that of the regular PRC passport, albeit all three passports bear the same country and nationality code, CHN, meaning that the bearer holds the People's Republic of China nationality, as well as the message from Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC.
Some countries classify Chinese nationals with SAR passports as Hong Kong citizens or Macau citizens for visa issuing purpose, other than the ordinary Chinese citizens classifications. Holders of SAR passports enjoy visa-free entry to many more countries than holders of regular PRC passports.
While the SAR passports and travel documents are endorsed by China, mainland ports of entry controlled by the Ministry of Public Security do not accept those documents for entrance into Mainland China. MPS requires SAR residents of Chinese nationality to use a Home Return Permit or Chinese Travel Document for SAR residents residing overseas. Also, SAR passports are not required when travelling between two SARs, but residents should bring their permanent residence IDs.
Chinese nationals who are not permanent residents of Hong Kong AND are without household registration in Mainland China are issued Hong Kong Document of Identity for Visa Purposes, and of Macau Macao Special Administrative Region Travel Permit or Visit Permit for Resident of Macao to HKSAR.

Non-passport travel documents

The following travel documents are also issued by mainland China to Chinese nationals who may or may not qualify for a Chinese passport for various reasons:

Chinese Travel Document

The Exit-Entry Permit for Travelling to and from Hong Kong and Macau, also known as the Two-way Permit, is issued to Chinese nationals with hukou who only wish to visit Hong Kong and Macau.

Permit for Proceeding to Hong Kong and Macao

The Permit for Proceeding to Hong Kong and Macao, also known as the One-way Permit, is issued to Chinese nationals who are settling in Hong Kong or Macau and have relinquished their Chinese residency. After their initial entry to Hong Kong or Macau, they are considered as SAR residents and are permanently ineligible for an ordinary Chinese passport, and later they will be eligible for SAR passports if they acquire a permanent resident status in the respective SARs.

[|Travel Permit to and from Taiwan]

The Travel Permit to and from Taiwan, colloquially known as Mainland Compatriot Permit or Mainland Resident Travel Permit, is issued to Chinese nationals with hukou in Mainland China by Ministry of Public Security, to those who wish to travel directly between Mainland China and Taiwan. Holders of the permit are required to obtain exit endorsements issued by MPS and Exit and Entry Permit issued by Taiwanese authorities prior to travelling.

Self-Service Immigration System (e-Channel)

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 as well as land border crossing checkpoints in Shenzhen and Zhuhai. 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 with China Immigration Inspection at land border checkpoints or international airports to be eligible.
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 travellers is:
Registration with CII not required:
Registration with CII required:
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. According to the 1 January 2018 Henley visa restrictions index, holders of a Chinese passport are granted visa free or visa on arrival access to 70 countries and territories, ranking the Chinese passport 68th in the world Chinese passport is also the highest-ranked passport in Communist state. Before February 2014, Chinese immigration authorities did not generally allow mainland Chinese citizens to board outbound flights without a valid visa for the destination country, even if the destination country granted a visa on arrival to Chinese passport holders, unless the exit was approved by the Ministry of Public Security. Exceptions were possible if the traveller had a third country's visa and a connecting flight from the destination country to the third country.

Travel to and from Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan

Issued to Chinese nationals with Hukou or Chinese nationals not qualified for SAR-issued travel documents, Chinese passports cannot normally be used when travelling directly to Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan from Mainland China.
In order for such Chinese nationals 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 to Chinese nationals 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 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 nationals with hukou to travel to Taiwan when departing from Mainland China unless holding the Mainland Resident Travel Permit with valid exit endorsement.

Foreign travel statistics

These are the numbers of Chinese visitors to various countries or territories:

Consular protections to Chinese passport holders (including Hong Kong, Macau & Taiwan residents)

In Chinese, passport is huzhao, meaning "protection document". Consular service is provided by the Chinese government to Chinese passport holders and Taiwanese. Recent consular protection activities include:
Due to a volcano eruption on Bali island, Indonesia in Nov 2017, over 17,000 Chinese citizens couldn't return to China on time. When the Bali airport opened temporarily on Nov 29th 2017, the Chinese government organized chartered flights with two state owned airlines: China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines. China Southern Airlines provided two Airbus A320s and China Eastern Airlines provided six Airbus 333 as chartered flights to carry Chinese tourists back. Until Nov 30th, 2017, 18 government chartered flights had been provided and over 3,700 Chinese citizens had been carried back to China. As of 18:00 pm of Dec 2, 2017, 13,514 Chinese nationals had been carried back by Chinese government chartered flights. The evacuation is free and done in this order: mother with child, females, the elderly and men.
Due to Hurricane Maria hitting the Caribbean area in September 2017, over 400 Chinese citizens were stranded. On Sep 28th, 2017, the Chinese embassy in Dominica organized two government chartered flights to take back 377 Chinese passport holders who wish to return to China free of charge.
On April 25, 2015, a strong earthquake hit Kathamandu, Nepal. 4 Chinese citizens were killed, 5 were severely injured and many were stranded. The Chinese government organized 18 flights to take Chinese citizens back within 24 hours of the earthquake and more within a week. Any Chinese nationals who wished to return to China could take government charted flights, free of charge. This included Hong Kong, Macau residents and over 12 Taiwan residents.
On Nov 14, 2016, an earthquake hit Hanmer Springs, South Island, New Zealand. 125 Chinese nationals were stranded in Kaikoura. The Chinese Consulate in Christchurch rented all available helicopters, and within 18 flights all the Chinese nationals were transported to a safe point within 24 hours.
On March 29, 2015, 3 Navy ships were dispatched by the Chinese government to carry 629 Chinese nationals from Yemen to a safe place along with 279 Pakistani citizens. All ships were prepared to engage any enemies and Chinese Navy soldiers landed on the port to set up a secure zone.
In 2011, during the civil war in Libya, 35,860 Chinese nationals including over 20 Taiwan residents had been evacuated by Chinese government chartered civil flights, chartered buses, government rented cruise ships, Chinese Air force planes and Navy battle ships.
Chinese SIM cards can automatically receive a notification text message from the Consular Protection Center in Beijing when first connecting to a foreign provider abroad. A typical message contains emergency phone numbers of the local Chinese embassies and consulates as well as the phone number of the Consular Protection Center in Beijing. It also contains information of local taboos, traditions and potential risks.

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