Chinese passport

This article deals with passports issued by the People's Republic of China. For passports issued by the Republic of China (aka Taiwan), see Republic of China passport.

Version "Form 97" of the Chinese Passport.

Cover of a Chinese diplomatic passport issued in 1992.

First two versions of the PRC passports since 1949.

The People's Republic of China passport (Chinese: 中华人民共和国护照 Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó hùzhào)

Overview and contents

There are several types of passports issued by the PRC:

• regular/ordinary (formerly known as "private regular/ordinary") passport;
• service, or official, passport;
• diplomatic passport;
• Special Administrative Region passports, i.e. the Hong Kong SAR passport and Macau SAR passport at present.

The newest version of the regular Chinese passport is "Form 97-2", which replaced its predecessors "Form 92" and "Form 97-1", and was released to the general public in 2007.

Ordinary Passport - Inside

The "Form 97-2" ordinary Chinese passport is a machine readable passport.

Personal data is on the inside front cover along with a coloured photo printed using digital security technology. Details include:

• Passport type (P)
• Country Code (CHN)
• Passport number (Gxxxxxxxx)
• Name (Surname and Given names)
• Sex (M) or (F)
• Date of birth (DD.MMM.YYYY)
• Date of issue (DD.MMM.YYYY)
• Place of birth (Province, or country if born abroad)
• Place of issued (Province, or place of diplomatic/consular authority if issued abroad)
• Date of expiry (DD.MMM.YYYY)
• Authority (Exit & Entry Administration Ministry of Public Security or the Chinese diplomatic and consular mission)

Languages

All information is printed in SimplifiedChinese and English.

Validity

The passport previously had a 5-year period of validity. Since 2007, it will be valid for 10 years for bearers 16 years of age or older. According to the new Passport Law of the PRC, renewal of previously issued passports ended on January 1, 2007. However, if a passport was renewed before 2007, it remains valid until its new expiration date. On April 1, 2007, China began issuing a 48-page passport.

Passport Note

In Chinese

中华人民共和国外交部请各国军政机关对持照人予以通行的便利和必要的协助.

In English

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China requests all civil and military authorities of foreign countries to allow the bearer of this passport to pass freely and afford assistance in case of need.

See also

• Visa requirements for Chinese citizens
• List of passports
• Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China
• Hong Kong SAR passport
• Macau SAR passport
• Republic of China passport