Emergencies and setbacks / Chapter 21
This section deals with both financial matters and personal freedom, and several points also relate to physical safety. Once you’re overseas, it’s the laws of the host country that apply — not Chinese law. There are clear limits to what China’s embassies and consulates can do to assist you. This section explains those limits in detail.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sorts safety risks abroad into 4 levels. The highest is called "Do not travel for now." …
When something happens, call the Ministry of Foreign Affairs global consular-protection hotline first. If you are in China, dial 12308. If you are abroad, dial +86-10-12308. …
If you are arrested abroad, what the embassy or consulate can do is check the facts with the local side, ask that you be handled fairly and according to law, come to see you, and sit in when the court hears the case. …
Medical bills abroad come out of your own pocket. China's basic medical insurance almost never pays them, and the embassy or consulate will not advance the money either. …
The monthly pay is absurdly high, they do not ask about education or experience, they do not sign a proper contract, they tell you to gather first in a border city, and they keep your passport for you. …
Overseas cash withdrawals are counted together across every bank card in your own name, with a cap of 100000 yuan a year. Once you go over it, you cannot withdraw again for the rest of that year or the next year. …
If your passport is lost, the embassy or consulate can issue you a travel document for the trip home, but you have to prove who you are. …
An "international driver's license" arranged online is not valid in mainland China. That document is a translation mutually recognized among parties to the 1949 Geneva Convention, and mainland China is not among the 103 parties. …
From September (9) 15, 2026, an agency that handles visas, study abroad, or immigration has to file with the immigration authority. …
If you issue an invitation letter or application materials for someone else and the contents are not true, the person fined is the person who issued them. …
If someone loses contact overseas, the family can ask the embassy or consulate for help. …
Cold and cough medicines with more than 10% pseudoephedrine or more than 1% codeine are regulated in Japan as a stimulant raw material or as a narcotic, and you have to apply for permission ahead of time. …
On the way back, meat cannot be brought in whether it is raw or cooked. Ham, jerky, and sausage are the same no matter how tightly they are packed. …
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