China drives on the right, signs its expressways in green and enforces its traffic law with a dense camera network. None of that is the hard part for a foreign driver. The hard part is the paperwork, because the document most visitors bring — the International Driving Permit — does nothing here at all.
The International Driving Permit is not valid in mainland China
An International Driving Permit is not a licence. It is a standard-format translation booklet issued under three treaties: the 1926 Paris convention, the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic and the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. It works only in countries that signed one of them.
Mainland China appears on the party list of neither the 1949 nor the 1968 convention, per the United Nations Treaty Collection depositary records. The consequence is direct: a Chinese traffic officer has no legal basis to accept an IDP, and the Beijing municipal government's own page for foreign licence holders says the permit is not accepted as a qualifying document.
That leaves two legitimate routes — a temporary permit if you are visiting, or a Chinese licence if you live here.
The temporary driving permit (临时机动车驾驶许可)
The full term is 临时机动车驾驶许可 (línshí jīdòngchē jiàshǐ xǔkě, "LIN-shr jee-DOONG-chuh jyah-shr shoo-kuh") — a temporary motor vehicle driving permit. It is issued by the traffic management department of the public security organ, not by a rental company, and it is the standard way a short-stay visitor can legally drive.
The Shanghai municipal government's published procedure sets out what it takes:
- Your passport and entry documents.
- Your foreign driving licence, plus a Chinese translation if the licence is not already in Chinese. Translation can be arranged through approved agencies or at the vehicle management office itself.
- A photograph and an application form, filed at a vehicle management office.
- A short session on Chinese road traffic law run by the traffic police, after which the permit is issued on the spot.
Validity follows your stay: a visitor staying under three months gets a three-month permit; a longer stay can be extended up to one year. It can never outlast the visa. Applicants must be 18 or over for small vehicles, and must not have an unresolved accident, a hit-and-run record or an accumulated twelve points.
The permit covers the categories your home licence covers, mapped onto the Chinese classes — C1 for a manual small car, C2 for an automatic. Beijing's service listing for the same permit records that temporary entrants applying for C1 or C2 are exempt from the physical-condition examination that resident applicants must pass. We could not identify a single dated Ministry of Public Security announcement that introduced this simplification; the change is commonly dated to 2019, but the sources we could verify are the current municipal service pages rather than the originating notice, so we state the present rule and not its history.
Converting a foreign licence into a Chinese one
If you hold a Chinese residence permit, you convert rather than re-learn. Beijing's official procedure is representative of the big cities, and it is short:
- Documents. Identity document, your original foreign licence with a certified Chinese translation, three one-inch colour photographs on a white background, and the completed application.
- Medical. A "Physical Condition Certificate for Motor Vehicle Driver" from an approved medical institution. Beijing publishes the standards: corrected vision to 5.0 on the logarithmic chart, no red-green colour blindness, normal hearing, functioning limbs, and no disqualifying condition such as epilepsy or drug addiction. Age bands apply — 18 to 70 for small cars, 26 to 50 for large buses.
- The theory test. Subject One (科目一) is compulsory for everyone converting. Larger categories — buses, tractors, mid-size and large trucks — also need Subject Three, the road test. Two attempts are allowed per exam; all exams must be finished within three years of the application being accepted.
- Fees. Beijing lists ¥50 for the Subject One exam, ¥60 for Subject Three and ¥10 to issue the licence.
There is a reciprocity shortcut. Beijing states that holders of Belgian, Emirati, French and Serbian licences, and Macao permanent residents with a Class B or larger licence, may be issued a Chinese licence without exams, subject to the conditions listed on its page. Diplomatic and consular staff are handled separately, within five working days.
Two practical constraints. You apply at the vehicle management office covering the place that issued your residence permit — a Beijing residence permit cannot be converted in Shanghai. And major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hangzhou offer the theory test in English; smaller cities may not.
Points, speed and alcohol
The 12-point system. A Chinese licence carries twelve demerit points over a twelve-month cycle. Individual offences carry 1, 2, 3, 6 or 12 points. Reaching twelve does not cancel the licence but suspends its use: the driver attends retraining and re-sits the theory exam before it is handed back. The city of Beijing runs formal retraining sessions and exams for exactly this purpose.
Speed. Article 42 of the Road Traffic Safety Law says a driver must not exceed the limit shown on the sign, and Article 67 caps expressway signage at 120 km/h. The State Council's implementing regulations set the rest of the pattern: a 60 km/h minimum on expressways, lane minimums on multi-lane expressways, roughly 80 km/h on urban express routes, and 50 to 70 km/h on ordinary city streets depending on the centre marking. Because the numbers change frequently and by lane, the sign is the authority.
Alcohol. Two thresholds matter. Blood alcohol at or above 20 mg per 100 ml but below 80 is 饮酒驾驶 (yǐnjiǔ jiàshǐ, "yin-JEE-oh jyah-shr") — drink-driving, an administrative offence carrying a fine, licence suspension and twelve points. At or above 80 mg per 100 ml it becomes 醉酒驾驶 (zuìjiǔ jiàshǐ, "dzway-JEE-oh jyah-shr"), drunk driving, which is criminal. A guideline issued jointly by the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice took effect on 28 December 2023, listing fifteen circumstances that attract heavier punishment and ten in which a suspended sentence may not be given. Enforcement is by roadside breath testing, and it is routine.
交管12123, the app everything runs through
交管12123 (jiāoguǎn yāo'èryāo'èrsān, "jyaow-GWAN yaow-er-yaow-er-san") is the Ministry of Public Security's national traffic-management service platform — a phone line, an app and mini-programs inside Alipay. Drivers use it to check and pay violations, book exam appointments, renew a licence, look up their point balance and handle plate paperwork. Anyone holding a Chinese licence will end up with it installed. The vehicle management office is 车管所 (chēguǎnsuǒ, "chuh-GWAN-swaw"), and the app handles much of what used to require a visit.
What foreign residents actually do
Many do not drive. Ride-hailing through DiDi is cheap, universal and available in English inside the Alipay and WeChat mini-programs; intercity travel is faster by high-speed rail than by car; and a company-provided driver is a common arrangement for those who need a car daily. Renting is straightforward once you hold a temporary permit or a Chinese licence, and one-way intercity rentals exist. Cyclists and pedestrians should note that electric two-wheelers use the bike lane in enormous numbers and often move against the flow.
Two rules worth knowing before your first drive: traffic keeps to the right (Article 35), and Article 47 requires a driver to slow at a pedestrian crossing and to stop for pedestrians already on it — a rule that has been camera-enforced in the big cities for several years.