Bringing Pets to China: Documents, Vaccines & Quarantine Rules (2026)

Частые вопросы

Can I bring my dog or cat into China?

Yes, but only dogs and cats — no other pets travel as accompanied baggage. Each traveler may bring one pet per entry, and the pet must have an electronic microchip plus valid official certificates (animal health/quarantine certificate and rabies vaccination certificate) issued by the exporting country's official veterinary authority.

How long is the quarantine for pets entering China?

Thirty days at a customs-designated facility, at the owner's expense — if your pet doesn't qualify for exemption. Pets from the 19 designated countries/regions with a chip and valid certificates, and pets from anywhere with a passing rabies titer report, are released on arrival after on-site inspection with no quarantine stay.

What documents do I need to bring a pet into China?

Four core items: an official animal health/quarantine certificate, a valid rabies vaccination certificate, the implanted microchip, and — for pets from non-designated countries — a rabies antibody (titer) test report from a China Customs–recognized laboratory. US-origin pets also travel with the USDA-endorsed health certificate (issued within 14 days of arrival), the original rabies certificate, the original titer report, a passport photocopy, and a photo of the pet.

Which countries are exempt from quarantine for pets entering China?

Pets originating from 19 designated countries/regions skip the 30-day quarantine with a chip and valid certificates: New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Hawaii (USA), Guam (USA), Jamaica, Iceland, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Cyprus, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong (China) and Macau (China). Pets from everywhere else need the titer report to skip quarantine.

What happens if my pet doesn't meet the requirements?

It enters a 30-day quarantine at a customs-designated facility at your expense, and you must arrive through a port that has quarantine facilities — not every international airport can process pets that need isolation. Pets showing signs of zoonotic or parasitic disease at the on-site inspection are also sent to quarantine regardless of paperwork.

Quick Summary: One dog or cat per traveler, and it must be chipped with valid official certificates. Pets from 19 designated countries/regions — and pets from anywhere with a rabies titer report (≥0.5 IU/ml, valid 12 months) — clear customs on arrival with no quarantine. Everyone else faces 30 days at a customs facility, entered via ports that have quarantine accommodation. The rules come from GACC Announcement [2019] No. 5 and are still the framework in 2026.

China is genuinely pet-reachable — that surprises people who’ve read decade-old forum threads about blanket confiscation. The current framework is GACC Announcement [2019] No. 5 (in force since May 1, 2019), and it works as a checklist: species, count, chip, certificates, then one decision — does your pet’s paperwork match one of the exemption paths, or does it go to quarantine? This page walks the checklist in order. For the general arrival process (channels, cash lines, e-filing), pair it with our China customs declaration guide.

The framework: species, count, chip

Three rules apply before anything else:

• Species: only pet dogs and cats. Rabbits, birds, reptiles and other animals don’t travel this way as accompanied pets.
• Count: each entering traveler may bring one pet per entry. Two pets means two travelers, each with the pet’s documents in their own name.
• Chip: the pet needs an electronic microchip conforming to ISO standards 11784 and 11785 — a 15-digit numeric code readable by a standard scanner. If your chip isn’t compliant, bring your own reader; customs will not guess.

The chip is the thread that ties the whole file together: its number should appear on the vaccination record, the titer report and the health certificate. Get it implanted before the rabies vaccinations that count for entry.

Document checklist

Bring originals, printed, in your carry-on — officials may keep copies:

Document	What it is	Notes
Official health/quarantine certificate	Issued by the official veterinary authority of the exporting country	Must be recent — the clinical inspection happens within 14 days before arrival in China
Rabies vaccination certificate	Issued by the official veterinary authority	Must be valid/current; vaccine details (manufacturer, batch, validity) should appear on it
Microchip	ISO 11784/11785, 15 digits	Implanted before the qualifying vaccinations; number must match all documents
Rabies antibody test report (titer)	From a China Customs–recognized laboratory	Only for pets from non-designated countries; result ≥ 0.5 IU/ml, valid 12 months from the blood draw

If you’re starting from the United States, USDA APHIS publishes the export-side checklist: a health certificate issued by a USDA-accredited veterinarian within 14 days of arrival in China and endorsed electronically through VEHCS (print the endorsed copy to travel), the original current rabies certificate, the original titer report, a photocopy of the traveler’s passport, and a printed photo of the pet. The name on the health certificate must match the traveler’s passport exactly — a middle-name mismatch is the classic self-inflicted delay. Starting from another country? The same four-item checklist applies; check your own government’s vet authority for the health-certificate mechanics.

Vaccine and test timeline (working back from your flight)

Order matters more than any single date. Count backwards like this:

1. Early — chip first. Implant the ISO chip so its number lands on every later record.
2. Rabies vaccinations — two in the pet’s lifetime, current at arrival. That’s the US APHIS line for China; for cats APHIS specifies the second shot at least 30 days after the first. Book these before anything else — they anchor the rest of the schedule.
3. Titer blood draw — on the day of the second vaccination or later. The sample goes to a recognized lab; the result must show ≥0.5 IU/ml and stays valid for 12 months from the draw date — your pet must arrive in China inside that window.
4. Final 14 days — certificates. The exporting country’s official agency does the clinical inspection and issues the health certificate within 14 days of arrival (US pets: via your USDA-accredited vet and VEHCS endorsement). This is the tightest window in the plan — book the appointment when you book the flight.
5. Flight day. Pet and documents travel together; the traveler named on the certificate carries the passport that matches it.

Airlines add their own layer — cabin vs. cargo, crate standards, breed and summer-heat restrictions, and pet space in the cabin sells out early. Confirm with the carrier when you book; customs rules and airline rules are separate systems and you need to pass both.

Will your pet be quarantined? The decision table

On arrival, customs runs an on-site clinical inspection and checks your file against GACC Announcement [2019] No. 5. Four outcomes:

Your pet’s situation	Result
From a designated country/region (list below) + ISO chip + valid certificates + passes on-site inspection	No quarantine — released on arrival
From a non-designated country + ISO chip + valid certificates + titer report ≥0.5 IU/ml from a recognized lab (valid 12 months)	No quarantine — released on arrival
Guide, hearing or search-and-rescue dog with valid chip, user certificate and professional training certificate	No quarantine — exemption for service dogs
Missing chip, missing/failed titer, invalid certificates — or signs of disease at inspection	30-day quarantine at a customs-designated facility, at the owner’s expense, entering via a port with quarantine facilities

The 19 designated countries/regions: New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Hawaii (USA), Guam (USA), Jamaica, Iceland, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Cyprus, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong (China) and Macau (China). What counts is where the pet travels from, not your passport: a dog arriving from Singapore is processed under Singapore’s rules, so keep export-side records that document the pet’s actual origin.

Two practical notes on the titer path — it’s the one most readers of this page will use, since the US mainland, Canada and most of Europe are non-designated. First, the lab must be on China Customs’ recognized list; testing anywhere else produces an impressive report that customs doesn’t have to accept. Second, the 12-month clock runs from the blood draw, not the report date — if travel slips past a year, the test (not the vaccination) is what expires. The recognized-lab list and quarantine-capable ports are maintained by customs and get adjusted, so check the official channels below before you fly.

If quarantine is unavoidable

Thirty days at a customs-designated facility is survivable, not catastrophic — but it’s expensive, and the logistics start before you book. Quarantined pets must enter through a port that has animal quarantine facilities; not every airport does (Beijing Capital International Airport is the standard example for the Beijing area). If there’s any chance your pet doesn’t meet an exemption path — a missing chip, an expired titer, a first-vaccination-only puppy — route your flight through a quarantine-capable port and contact the port’s customs quarantine service in advance. Facility fees are set locally; ask the port customs office for current rates rather than trusting forum numbers.

At the airport, keep the pet with you and head to customs: accompanied pets go through the declaration side, not the green channel — the same red-channel logic as any restricted item in your bags. The officer checks the chip against the documents and runs the clinical inspection; if everything holds, you walk out together.

Source & verification

• GACC (General Administration of Customs of China) — pet import quarantine supervision under Announcement [2019] No. 5 (effective 2019-05-01): english.customs.gov.cn
• Shanghai municipal government official guide, “How to bring pets to China” (sourced from Shanghai Customs; designated-country list, document checklist, 14-day inspection and quarantine conditions): english.shanghai.gov.cn
• Announcement [2019] No. 5 English mirror on the Beijing government portal: english.beijing.gov.cn
• USDA APHIS — US export requirements for dogs and cats to China (health certificate via VEHCS, rabies two-vaccination rule, FAVN titer ≥0.5 IU/ml valid 12 months): china-dog · china-cat

Last verified: 2026-10-20. Species, one-per-traveler limit, chip standards, the designated-country list, the titer exemption and the 30-day quarantine fallback are transcribed from GACC Announcement [2019] No. 5 as published on official English-language government portals; US export-side timing (two vaccinations, VEHCS health certificate within 14 days, titer validity) is transcribed from USDA APHIS. Recognized-lab lists, quarantine-capable ports and facility fees are administratively adjusted by customs and local authorities — their current reading prevails.