What are the ways to go abroad?

(1) Passports The passport of the People's Republic of China is a document issued to China citizens to prove their nationality and identity when they enter or leave the country, travel abroad or stay. Passports of the People's Republic of China are divided into diplomatic passports, official passports, ordinary passports, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passports and Macao Special Administrative Region passports. Ordinary passports are divided into ordinary passports for business and ordinary passports for private purposes.

Diplomatic passports, official passports and ordinary passports are valid for a maximum of five years and can be extended before their expiration. Passports of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region are generally valid for 10 years, and passports issued to children under 16 years old are valid for 5 years. Generally, Macao SAR passports are valid for 10 years, and passports issued to children under 18 years old are valid for 5 years.

(2) The diplomatic passports to be issued are mainly issued to senior officials of the party, government and army in China, major leaders of the National People's Congress, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and democratic parties, diplomatic officials, consular officials and their accompanying spouses, minor children and diplomatic envoys.

Official passports are mainly issued to officials at or above the county level in government departments at all levels, diplomatic missions abroad, consular offices, staff of the United Nations organization system and its specialized agencies, their accompanying spouses, minor children, etc.

Ordinary passports for business are mainly issued to general staff of governments at all levels and those who go abroad for business in state-owned enterprises and institutions.

Ordinary passports for private purposes are mainly issued to China citizens who go abroad for personal reasons such as settling down, visiting relatives, visiting friends, inheriting property, studying abroad, employment, traveling and so on, and China citizens who have settled abroad. On June 1 2000, the Ministry of Public Security officially launched a new version of ordinary passport for personal reasons. The new personal business passport will be issued first in Shanghai and Jiangsu province, and then in other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across the country. After the new personal passport is issued, the local issuing authority will no longer issue the old personal passport.

Passports of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region are issued to China citizens who hold Hong Kong permanent identity cards. Passports of the Macao Special Administrative Region shall be issued to China citizens who hold permanent identity cards of the Macao Special Administrative Region.

(3) The issuing authority, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the foreign affairs offices of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government authorized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issue diplomatic passports, official passports and ordinary passports for business, and go through the formalities of extension, countersigning and annotation of diplomatic passports, official passports and ordinary passports for business when necessary. The foreign affairs offices of the people's governments of special economic zones, coastal open cities and cities under separate state planning authorized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall issue official passports and ordinary passports for business, and go through the formalities of extension, countersigning and issuance of official passports and ordinary passports for business when necessary. At present, 56 institutions issue official passports.

The Ministry of Public Security and the local public security organs authorized by the Ministry of Public Security issue ordinary passports for personal reasons, and go through the formalities of extension and issuance of ordinary passports for personal reasons. According to the Basic Law of the HKSAR, the Central Government authorizes the HKSAR to issue passports to China citizens holding Hong Kong permanent identity cards and other travel documents to other legal residents of the HKSAR. According to the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region, the central government authorizes the government of the Macao Special Administrative Region to issue other travel documents to China citizens and other legal residents of the Macao Special Administrative Region who hold permanent identity cards or passports of the Macao Special Administrative Region.

The Embassy of People's Republic of China (PRC) issues diplomatic passports, official passports, ordinary passports for business purposes and ordinary passports for personal purposes, handles the formalities for the extension and issuance of various passports, accepts applications for passports and other travel documents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and provides necessary assistance for Macao SAR residents to apply for passports and travel cards of the Macao Special Administrative Region.

The Consulate General of People's Republic of China (PRC) in Hong Kong issues ordinary passports for business and private purposes, handles the procedures for extension and replacement of various passports, accepts applications for passports and other travel documents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and provides necessary assistance for Macao SAR residents to apply for passports and travel cards of the Macao Special Administrative Region. The Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong and the Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Macao can renew and reissue diplomatic passports, official passports, ordinary passports for business and personal purposes, and go through the formalities of passport extension and issuance.

The passport issuing authority is authorized to issue certificates instead of passports, and has the right to confiscate, declare invalid or revoke issued passports and certificates instead of passports.