Chinese embassies, consulates and visa centres — country by country

Pick your nationality — see your embassy, your visa centre and your paperwork

One choice, four answers: whether you need a visa at all, the Chinese embassy that covers your country, the visa application centre where you hand in the file, and the documents to bring. The entry verdict comes from the same database behind our China visa and visa-free guide.

Visa application requirements in 2026

Chinese visa rules are the same in every country: same form, same photo, same categories, same four-day standard processing. What changes is where you hand the file in — a China Visa Application Service Centre in 57 destinations, the embassy or consulate itself everywhere else — and the fee, which is set per nationality on a reciprocity basis.

Which visa do you need?

Visa-free entry and the 240-hour transit cover tourism, business, family visits, exchanges and transit only. Work, study and journalism are always excluded and always need the visa above, whatever your passport.

Tourist (L) visa — the standard checklist

• Passport valid for at least six months from the date of entry, with two blank pages.
• Photocopy of the passport data page.
• Photograph — recent colour, 33 × 48 mm, white background, full face, no glasses or hat. Most centres will also take it on site for a small fee.
• COVA form — the online application at visaforchina.cn, filled in, printed and signed. Children need their own form.
• Confirmed round-trip flights and hotel bookings, or an invitation letter with a copy of the host’s ID.
• Travel insurance covering China — compulsory for a few nationalities and for applicants over 70, recommended for everyone.
• Proof of residence (residence permit, utility bill) if you apply outside your country of nationality.
• Previous Chinese visas in an old passport, if you have them — they usually simplify the decision.
• Minors: birth certificate, both parents’ passports and signed consent; if only one parent travels, the other’s notarised authorisation.

Business (M), family (Q/S) and study (X) files

• M — the trip-purpose letter plus an invitation letter from the Chinese trade partner and the applicant company’s own letter with a stamped business licence copy.
• Q1/Q2 — invitation letter and a copy of the inviter’s Chinese ID card (or their foreigner’s residence permit), plus proof of the family relationship.
• S1/S2 — invitation from the foreign relative in China with a copy of their residence permit and proof of relationship.
• X1 — JW201 or JW202 form plus the university admission notice. Z — the work permit notification for foreign experts.

Fees, fingerprints and processing time

Apply at least a month before departure in peak season (April, July–August, National Day week in October). Appointments at the busiest centres — London, Madrid, Paris, Berlin, New York — fill up days or weeks ahead.

57 destinations with a China Visa Application Service Centre

In these countries a commercial service centre — the only channel authorised by the Chinese embassy — collects the file, takes the fee and returns the passport. The centre does not decide anything: the embassy or consulate does, which is why a refusal can never be argued with the centre. Addresses, telephones, e-mail addresses and opening hours for each city are in the finder above; the table below shows which cities each country has.

In every other country there is no service centre: the application is lodged directly at the Chinese embassy or consulate, with the same form, the same photo and the same categories. Choose your nationality in the finder above and the page shows the mission that covers you.

Chinese embassies worldwide — the complete list

All 177 Chinese embassies with their published street address, telephone number and official website, as listed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC and reviewed here on 9 October 2026. Consulates-general and other posts are listed on each embassy’s website.

Sources & disclaimer. Compiled by 71Asia Tours from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC list of Chinese diplomatic missions, the China Visa Application Service Centre network (visaforchina.cn), and the official websites of the Chinese embassy in Spain, its Consulate-General in Barcelona, and the Chinese embassy and consulates-general in the United States. Reviewed 9 October 2026 and checked monthly. Diplomatic posts move, telephone numbers change and document requirements are updated without notice: the embassy, consulate or visa centre that receives your application is the only authority on your case, and its published information always prevails over this page. This page is a convenience index, not legal advice, and 71Asia Tours is not an agent of the Chinese government.

71Asia Tours — China specialists since 2013

We are a China-based tour operator selling direct to travellers from Europe and the Americas, with offices in China and in Spain. We do not issue visas — nobody outside the Chinese government does — but we plan thousands of trips a year around these rules, we keep this index up to date for our own travellers, and we tell you plainly what your passport allows before you book.

• The entry rules explained — visa-free, 240-hour transit, Hainan and Tibet, in our China visa and visa-free guide.
• Itineraries that fit your entry rules — 30-day visa-free trips, 10-day transit routes and Tibet programmes.
• Booking confirmations for your application — hotel and flight paperwork that visa centres accept, issued the same day.
• Tibet Travel Permits arranged with the licensed partners we use on every Lhasa departure.
• Travel insurance for China — see our insurance page.
• Answers in English or Spanish within one business day: [email protected].

Chinese embassies and visa centres: frequently asked questions

Disclaimer. Information compiled from official Chinese government publications and the official websites of the embassies, consulates and visa application centres listed. Reviewed 9 October 2026, checked monthly. It is provided for general information, is not legal advice, and 71Asia Tours accepts no liability for decisions taken on the basis of it. Diplomatic contact details and visa requirements change without notice. In every case the official information published by the Chinese embassy, consulate or visa application centre responsible for your application prevails over this page, and the interpretation of China’s visa policy rests solely with the Chinese authorities.