How to get a Chinese temporary driving permit to drive in China in 2026
In this blog you will learn exactly how to get a Chinese temporary driving permit, valid for renting and driving cars across Mainland China.
We had our Chinese temporary driving permits made in the Chengdu Municipal Traffic Management Bureau, Vehicle Management Office in Pidu District on August 20, 2026. The requirements outlined below are based on our personal experience at that office on that date, and may vary depending on where you create your own.
Learn how to rent a car here! (Chinese temporary driving permit required)
Contents
Do I need a Chinese temporary driving permit?
Without an official Chinese temporary driving permit, you are not permitted to drive in Mainland China. Local police and government agencies do not recognise any IDP version from any country, and while very limited reciprocal license agreements exist with certain countries, majority of nationalities home licenses are invalid in China. Without this permit, you will not be able to rent or drive a car in any province of Mainland China.
Getting a Chinese temporary driving permit unlocks an entirely new way to travel the very best regions of the worlds newest trending travel destination. Accessing spectacular regions like western Sichuan and Xinjiang on your own schedule, without tours or waiting for busses is perfect for those chasing a more authentic experience travelling China.
Before you arrive
Before arriving to the city you will be arranging your Chinese temporary driving permit in, you will need to arrange a few things in advance to save time and make the process as quick as possible.
Regardless of where you intend to have your Chinese temporary driving permit made, you will need to bring the following to the Vehicle Management Office or Traffic Police Station:
Notarised and stamped translation of your original drivers license from your home country. (Front and back)
Original drivers licensed (matching the translated version).
Original passport with valid visa or entry stamp (visa-exempt travellers can still get the license).
A working Chinese phone number. We arranged to use the contact number of our hotel in advance, and the traffic police accepted it.
Address of current hotel in Chinese.
If possible, bring recent passport photos as not all vehicle management offices will have photo booths. Size and aspect ratio matters, there was a photo booth in the Chengdu VMO as our photos were the incorrect size.
The notarised translation must be ordered from the city you intend on creating the permit in, and can take a day to be processed so this should be arranged in advance. We had the notarised and stamped translations sent via courier to our hotel a day before we arrived to Chengdu (organised through the translation agency). This allowed us to head to the VMO first thing the following morning.
It’s important to make sure you order your notarised and stamped translation of your original drivers license from a certified translator in the same city as where you will have the permit created. We got our Chengdu-approved notarised translation from www.trustworthytrans.com, who I contacted via WeChat to send the documents, arrange the courier and make payment. The price was 111 CNY including delivery to the hotel in central Chengdu.
If you will be creating your permit in another major city, search for notarised translators in that city and check with them via WeChat if they provide the adequate certified notarisations for creating a Chinese temporary driving permit.
If you are planning on creating your permit at the Beijing or Shanghai Airport Offices, it seems that they can create the notarised translation on the spot, making the process even easier.
Getting the permit
Once you have the notarised translation and the other required documents, all you need to do is head to the correct Traffic Bureau Vehicle Management Office in the same city you ordered your notarised translation of your original drivers license.
To find the correct office, search for ‘Vehicle Management Office’ in the Amap app for the city you’re in. You can confirm it’s the correct location by checking for reviews of people renewing their personal Chinese drivers license or registering new vehicles. The main municipal office that provides these services also offers the Chinese temporary driving permit creation. It should be possible at the main Vehicle Management Office in all cities.
Get yourself to the office as close to opening as possible to avoid waiting in confusing queues. Upon arriving, head straight to the reception desk and inform the staff that you want to create a temporary driving permit.
At this point, have your best Chinese translator app ready to go. Our experience was then to speak with staff at the ‘Bilingual service counter’ (who only spoke Chinese, not English) via translate for about 10 minutes, confirming names, visa-exemption duration and checking our passport photos. Our photos were incorrect, conveniently the Chengdu VMO has a self-service photo booth for taking and printing new photos for this permit. The staff were able to help us with the Chinese interface. The new set of photos cost 20 CNY payable via WeChat. We told them we did not have Chinese names and they were able to create the permit with a translation of our names in English.
After returning to the desk where the staff were processing the license, we were provided with our invoice for the creation of the permits, which was 10 CNY each. Note that the QR they provide to pay this is only accessible on a Mainland China internet network. As there was no free public wifi, and we didn’t have Mainland China SIM’s, one of the officers was able to provide a hotspot for our phones on which we were able to successfully pay the fee.
The staff took our home drivers license translations, so next time we will need to order these again.
Once the paperwork and payment was complete, we were directed to the waiting area where after 10 minutes another member of staff presented us with our completed Chinese temporary driving permits. All up the process took about 45 minutes from walking in to walking out of the VMO.
Despite only having a Chinese visa-exemption of 30-days, the permit was issued with a 3-month validity.
Renting a car
With permit in hand, half the process if complete! Next you’ll need to actually rent a car and get behind the wheel. Most car rental platforms do not service Mainland China, so you’ll need to look at local alternatives.
We created this post explaining everything about renting a car in China!
That’s It!
If you’ve made it down here, thank you so much for reading.
Now you’re ready for your own road trip adventure in China!
