International Driving Permit in China

🗓 Facts checked against China's road-traffic law and official sources. Research last updated: 29 July 2026. You may copy this information only if you provide a link back to this page.

⚠ This page is general information about driving rules, not legal advice. Rules change, and each authority applies its own — confirm your case with the relevant authority before you drive.

ℹ We are a private company. We are not a government body, a licensing or issuing authority, or a treaty organisation, and we are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting for any of them. The International Driver's Document we sell is a translation of your national driving licence: it is not a driving licence, and it is not a government-issued document.

• Driving in China: key facts
• Do you need an International Driving Permit in China?
• What side of the road does China drive on?
• How long can you drive in China with a foreign licence?
• Is China a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?
• Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place
• Can you drive in China with your country's licence?
• Where to get an International Driving Permit
• Moving to China? Rules for new residents
• Driving rules in China tourists get fined for
• Read more about driving in China
• Sources

Driving in China: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in China?

An IDP does not authorize driving in mainland China and is not a substitute for a PRC licence or temporary motor-vehicle driving permit. A visitor normally needs a Chinese temporary permit, must carry the original foreign national licence, and needs a Chinese translation of that licence. Beijing guidance states expressly that applications based only on an 'International Driving Permit' are not accepted. Do not present the IDP as the operative driving credential.

• Tourists and short-term visitors: your national licence and an IDP do not authorize driving here on their own — for almost every origin, driving requires a document the destination itself issues. The answer below names it; check with the destination’s authorities whether a visitor can obtain one before you travel.
• Car renters: Before collecting a rental car, obtain the temporary PRC permit. The temporary permit covers small vehicles only — C1 (manual) or C2 (automatic); carry the rental contract as well as the permit, national licence and Chinese translation.

No specific penalty for driving without the required document was verified from an authoritative source. Secondary source.

What side of the road does China drive on?

China drives on the right-hand side of the road, and overtaking is done on the left. Mainland drives right; Hong Kong and Macau drive on the left.

How long can you drive in China with a foreign licence?

The temporary driving permit is issued for three months for a stay of three months or less; for a longer approved stay its validity can be extended to match the stay, up to a maximum of one year. Beijing adds that the permit remains valid across multiple entries and exits within its validity. (Shanghai Municipal Government, temporary motor-vehicle driving permit; Beijing 12345 hotline FAQs)

Planning to move to China? Different rules apply once you become a resident — see the residents section below.

Is China a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?

China is party to neither the 1949 Geneva Convention nor the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. An official convention IDP cannot be issued in China, and convention rules do not bind it — licence acceptance is governed purely by local law and bilateral arrangements.

Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place

Whether a foreign country accepts your driving licence hangs on a tangle of variables: three different road-traffic conventions signed decades apart (1926, 1949, 1968) — the oldest predates the United Nations itself, and only the latter two were concluded under it — countries at different stages of joining each (signed vs. accepted vs. ratified), licences printed in alphabets local police can't read, vehicle-category systems that don't line up between countries, document generations that may not meet a convention's format even when the country is a member, bilateral deals between individual states, and local laws that are looser in one place and stricter in the next. The same licence can be fine at one border and rejected at the next — even at the next rental desk. The International Driving Permit exists to cut through most of it: a standardized, multilingual presentation of your existing licence, with harmonized category symbols, that most officials can read at a glance. It doesn't replace your national licence or grant new rights — you carry both — and it doesn't guarantee acceptance: a handful of destinations still require a local permit alongside or instead of it, but for most it meaningfully improves your odds.

Can you drive in China with your country's licence?

This answer is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to China as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Mainland China does not recognize an IDP or a foreign national licence as a stand-alone authority to drive — this applies equally to every origin country, convention party or not, including the four bilateral-agreement states (UAE, Belgium, France, Serbia), whose holders also go through the permit process (test-free). A visitor must first obtain a Chinese temporary motor-vehicle driving permit (no driving test; foreign licence + Chinese translation), then carry that permit with the original foreign licence and Chinese translation. The usual permit is three months for a short stay or up to one year for a longer approved stay, and covers small cars (C1/C2) only. Rules change — confirm with official sources before you travel. Last verified: July 2026.

Legend: "1949" — Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (IDP valid up to 1 year); "1968" — Vienna Convention (IDP valid up to 3 years).

Locally issued document required — a foreign licence and an IDP do not authorize driving here; the destination issues its own document and you must obtain it before you drive.

What you need to carry — National licence + Chinese translation, then apply for a temporary driving permit (valid 3 months, up to 1 year) — an IDP is not accepted

Why — A foreign licence and an IDP do not authorize driving here; the destination issues its own document and it must be obtained first [1]

Sources and notes for the answer above

[1] PRC Road Traffic Safety Law Art. 19; Shanghai/Beijing temporary-permit guidance — Neither a foreign national licence nor an IDP authorizes driving in mainland China; a temporary motor-vehicle driving permit must be obtained first (PRC Road Traffic Safety Law Art. 19). Route is origin-agnostic and test-free.

Where to get an International Driving Permit

An International Driving Permit must be obtained before you travel, and only certain countries may issue one to you — you cannot buy an official IDP from an unrelated country. Under the 1968 Vienna Convention it may be issued only by the Contracting Party where you normally reside and which issued or recognizes your licence — by that Party's competent authority or by an association it has duly empowered. Under the 1949 Geneva Convention it is issued by the competent authority of a Contracting State, or by an association that authority has duly empowered. Which body that is varies by country: a government agency in some, an authorized motoring club in others.

• Travelling from another country? Ask that country's driving-licence authority which body it authorizes to issue IDPs — a government agency in some countries, an authorized motoring club in others.

Separately, IDA offers a digital International Driver's Document — a translation of your national licence that you carry alongside it. It is not an International Driving Permit issued under the 1949 or 1968 conventions by the body your country authorizes for that purpose, and it is not a certified, sworn or otherwise official translation: no authority certifies it, and where a country requires an official or certified translation by law, our document does not satisfy that requirement. It is a private translation meant to make your national licence readable at rental desks and roadside checks.

Moving to China? Rules for new residents

A temporary permit is a visitor solution, not a resident conversion. A foreign-licence holder seeking a regular Chinese licence applies to the local vehicle-management office with identity and residence documents, the original foreign licence, a certified Chinese translation, photographs and a physical-examination certificate, and normally passes the Subject One theory examination. Official source.

Driving rules in China tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Carry the temporary permit, original foreign licence, Chinese translation, passport or identity document, rental contract, registration and insurance. Check that the rental vehicle has its warning triangle and other supplied emergency equipment.
• Drink-driving: Drink-driving starts at 20 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood (血液酒精含量≥20mg/100ml); 80 mg/100 ml or more is criminal drunk driving. The safe visitor rule is zero alcohol before driving. By law (Road Traffic Safety Law Art. 91, current consolidated text): first drink-driving offence = six-month licence suspension plus CNY 1,000-2,000 fine (处暂扣六个月机动车驾驶证，并处一千元以上二千元以下罚款); repeat offence adds detention up to 10 days and revocation. Drunk driving (≥80 mg/100 ml) triggers licence revocation, criminal liability and a five-year re-licensing ban.
• Speed limits: Posted signs control. Expressways can be posted up to 120 km/h, while urban and local limits are much lower and enforcement is heavily camera-based. Treat every posted change as decisive.
• Before collecting a rental car, obtain the temporary PRC permit. The temporary permit covers small vehicles only — C1 (manual) or C2 (automatic); carry the rental contract as well as the permit, national licence and Chinese translation.
• A properly issued temporary permit is usable beyond the issuing city; Shanghai guidance says it 'allows you to drive to other provinces and cities with no travel restrictions'.
• Traffic keeps right. Speed limits are sign-led and can change sharply between dense urban roads, ring roads and expressways; rely on the posted limit and local lane-control signs.

Read more about driving in China

• How to rent a car in China with US driver license
• Chinese traffiс rules
• 10 Interesting Facts About China
• Best Places to Visit in China
• Getting a Driving License in China: 2026 Guide for Foreigners

Watch what driving in China looks like

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. Shanghai Municipal Government, temporary motor-vehicle driving permit; Beijing 12345 hotline FAQs
3. Resident licence conversion rule
4. Beijing foreign-driver temporary-permit FAQs (translation rule, 3-month/1-year validity, multi-entry, small-car scope)
5. Shanghai guidance on nationwide use of a temporary permit
6. PRC Road Traffic Safety Law, current consolidated Chinese text (2021 revision) — Beijing Traffic Management Bureau; Arts. 19, 91, 99
7. Official emergency telephone numbers (110/119/120/122)
8. 2025 public-security Q&A on alcohol thresholds and penalties (Hechuan District PSB, April 2025 — corroborates Art. 91 amounts and 20/80 mg thresholds)
9. Ministry of Public Security: China-France driving-licence mutual recognition in force 2021-08-17 (short-stay = test-free temporary permit; >1 year = test-free exchange); China lists UAE, Belgium, France, Serbia as agreement states
10. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
11. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic