| People's Republic of China passport | |
The front cover of a Chinese passport since 1997
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| Issued by | China |
| Type of document | Passport |
| Eligibility requirements | Chinese citizens |
The People's Republic of China passport (Chinese: 中华人民共和国护照 Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó hùzhào), commonly referred to as the Chinese passport, is the passport issued to citizens of the People's Republic of China (PRC) for international travel.
Issued to Chinese citizens as defined by the PRC's Nationality Law, the passport is not for use by nationals travelling to Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan as these regions are considered parts of the PRC and, thus, does not constitute international travel. Two-way Permit are required to travel to these regions. Conversely, Chinese citizens residing in these regions cannot use their SAR passports or Republic of China passports to enter mainland China. However, mainland China residents transiting Hong Kong or Macau when travelling to other countries may use their passports to enter Hong Kong or Macau for 7 days.
Chinese citizens 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. The SAR passports are special types of the PRC passport with colours on the cover different from that of the ordinary PRC passport. Holders of SAR passports enjoy visa-free entry to more countries than holders of regular PRC passports.
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According to Articles 3 through 9 of the 2006 Passport Law of the People's Republic of China, there are three types of passports issued by the PRC:
As of December 2011, the Chinese government has already launched biometric diplomatic passports and biometric public affair passports. The launch date of biometric ordinary passports remains to be announced, but is expected to be sometime in 2012.
The passports for Macau and Hong Kong are issued by the special administrative region authorities for these locales and are not covered in this law.
The passport previously had an across-the-board 5-year period of validity. Since 2007, it is valid for 10 years for bearers above 16 years of age, and for 5 years for bearers below 16 years of age. 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.
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. "Form 97-2" passports consist of 48 pages.
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:
All information is printed in Simplified Chinese and English.
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。
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.