Leaving China: Airport Steps, Exit Customs and Tax Refunds

Leaving China by air usually goes in this order: check in and drop your bags, pass exit customs, clear border control with your passport and boarding pass, go through security, then walk to the gate. If you are claiming a tax refund, customs checks the goods first (before you check them in, if they are in your suitcase), and you collect the money at the refund agent's counter in the restricted area after border control. The main thing is to arrive early. At Beijing Capital Airport, check-in for most international flights closes 40 to 75 minutes before departure depending on the terminal and airline, and the airport's target is that 95% of economy passengers queue no more than 40 minutes to check in. Other airports and airlines set their own times, so check your airline's page the day before. This guide walks through each step, what can't leave the country with you, and how the tourist tax refund works now that it has gone paperless.

The departure order, step by step

Chinese airports are big, but the order of desks is the same as most international airports. Signs are in Chinese and English. Follow them rather than any fixed map, because each terminal is laid out a little differently. Here is what happens at each step and what to have in your hand.

1. Check-in and bag drop. Bring your passport and booking. If you are claiming a tax refund on things packed in the suitcase you are about to check, go to the customs tax-refund desk first: for refund forms under 10,000 yuan, customs checks a random share of claims and asks to see the goods. Once the bag is checked, you can't show them. The simplest fix is to keep refund items in your hand luggage.
2. Exit customs. Most tourists walk straight past. You only stop if you have something to declare, such as cash above the limit, restricted goods or items that need a permit. The details are in the customs section below.
3. Border control (immigration). Hand over your passport and boarding pass. The officer checks your passport and that your stay is in order before letting you leave.
4. Security screening. On international flights from China, liquids in hand luggage must be in containers of 100 mL or less, all in one clear resealable bag of up to 1 litre. Power banks must go in hand luggage, never in the checked bag, and alcohol you bought in town must go in checked baggage, not hand luggage. Drinks between 24% and 70% alcohol are limited to 5 litres per passenger, and anything over 70% is not allowed at all.
5. Airside: tax refund and duty-free. The refund agent's counter is inside the restricted area after border control, marked in Chinese and English. Duty-free shops are here too, and they only sell to passengers who have finished exit formalities.
6. Gate. At Beijing Capital, international boarding gates open 30 minutes before departure and close 15 to 20 minutes before. At other airports, the boarding pass or the departure screens show the gate closing time.

If you came in through the same airport, the layout will feel familiar. Our arrival guide covers the same desks in the other direction, and the airport-specific guides for Beijing (PEK and PKX) and Shanghai (PVG and SHA) show where things are in each terminal.

How early to get to the airport

Beijing Capital publishes clear numbers, so it makes a good example. At Terminal 2, international check-in opens no later than 150 minutes before departure and closes 40 to 60 minutes before. At Terminal 3, most airlines open check-in 3 to 4 hours ahead and close it 60 to 75 minutes before; some airlines close sooner, so go by your airline's own time. The airport aims to keep 95% of economy passengers' check-in queues under 40 minutes, and peak security waits at Terminal 3 under 20 minutes.

For other airports, the airline is the authority. As one example, Hainan Airlines says check-in for its international and regional flights usually closes 60 minutes before departure, and even passengers who checked in online must get their boarding pass before that cut-off. Confirm your own airline's cut-off on its website or app.

Our advice: plan to walk into the terminal about three hours before an international flight. Add another half hour if you are claiming a tax refund, flying at a holiday peak, or travelling with children. Getting to the airport also takes longer than people expect in big cities; our airport transfer guide has travel times by city.

Border control: what they check, and what happens if you overstay

At the exit immigration desk you show your passport and boarding pass. The officer checks that the passport is valid and that you have stayed within the time your visa, visa-free entry or residence permit allows; you may leave only once that check is passed. For most tourists this takes a minute or two.

A few practical points:

• Forms. Usually you don't need to fill in anything before you reach the desk. If a border officer hands you a departure card, fill it in there.
• If you replaced a lost passport, a new passport without a valid visa or stay permit is not enough to leave. You need to sort out the stay document first.
• Automated gates. Some Chinese airports have self-service gates at immigration. Each lane shows who can use it, so follow the signs and the staff; if you are not sure, join the staffed desk queue.

Overstaying

Count your days carefully. Overstaying is treated as illegal residence. The penalty can be a warning, and in serious cases a fine of 500 yuan for each day of overstay up to 10,000 yuan, or 5 to 15 days of detention. A foreigner who stays illegally can also be removed from China and barred from coming back for 1 to 5 years, and in serious cases expelled with a 10-year ban. Separately, the law lets the authorities stop a foreigner from leaving in a few specific situations, such as an open criminal case, an unsettled civil case where a court has ordered it, or unpaid workers' wages. Those do not affect ordinary tourists.

If your stay is about to run out and you need more time, go to the local exit-entry administration office before it runs out. On a visa, the law says to apply at least seven days before your permitted stay ends. Our visa extension guide explains the process. If you entered on visa-free transit, your permitted area and length of stay are set by that scheme; see the visa-free transit guide. If you have already overstayed, contact the local exit-entry administration office before going to the airport. At the very least, get to the airport much earlier than usual, go to the border control desk first and explain, rather than hoping it goes unnoticed. The full text of the Exit and Entry Administration Law is on the National Immigration Administration website.

Exit customs: what you can't take out of China

China's current baggage rules took effect on 1 April 2025. When you leave, you must declare to customs in writing if you carry prohibited or restricted items, restricted items above the allowed amount or that need a permit, commercial goods or samples, blood or biological products, or cash above the set limit. If none of that applies, there is nothing to fill in and you walk through. If something does apply, you can fill in the declaration in advance in the "海关进出境人员指尖服务" (Customs Fingertip Service) mini-program in WeChat or Alipay, or at npc.chinaport.gov.cn, then confirm it at the customs desk.

Cash

Each person may carry no more than 20,000 yuan in Chinese cash in or out per trip. Most tourists leave with far less. For foreign currency, keep any customs declaration you made when you arrived with a large amount, because it shows the money came in with you. If you plan to leave with a large sum of foreign cash, check the current rules with customs or your bank before the trip home; large amounts can need bank paperwork. Converting leftover yuan before you fly is covered in the checklist below.

Items you can't take out, or can only take out with a permit

China's prohibited list for export includes state secrets, valuable cultural relics, and endangered or rare animals and plants, including specimens and seeds. Its restricted list includes gold and silver and items made from them, Chinese and foreign currency, radio transmitters, precious Chinese medicinal materials and ordinary cultural relics. "Restricted" means there are amount limits or you need a permit.

The one that catches souvenir shoppers is traditional Chinese medicine. Medicines that contain bear bile, elephant skin, leopard bone, antelope horn, musk or pangolin scales, and ivory products, cannot be taken out without an import-export permit from China's endangered species authority. Shops in the airport's restricted area, duty-free included, are not allowed to sell these, and anything whose packaging or leaflet lists such an ingredient is treated as containing it. So buying it airside does not make it legal to fly with. Read the ingredients list, and if you see any of those animals named, leave it.

Antiques and old art

Items made in or before 1949, such as art, crafts, manuscripts and old books, need a review by the cultural relics authority before they can leave China. So do some later items linked to major historical events or famous people, and works by certain modern artists that the National Cultural Heritage Administration has named. The process: you apply before departure, the review office gives its decision within 15 working days, and items allowed out get an official export mark (often a wax seal) and an export permit, which customs checks before letting them go.

In practice, almost all "antiques" in tourist markets are modern reproductions, which is fine. Keep the shop invoice, which shows what you bought and when. If you buy something that really is old, ask the shop whether it can arrange the review for you, and make sure you leave with both the export mark on the item and the permit. Without them, customs can stop the item at the airport.

Tourist tax refund: who qualifies, how much, and where to collect it

China refunds part of the value-added tax (VAT) on goods that overseas visitors buy at registered tax-refund shops and take home. It is worth the effort if you buy something sizeable in one shop: a jacket, jewellery, electronics, a set of tea ware. For small souvenirs spread across many shops, it usually isn't.

The rules in plain terms

• Who: foreigners (and visitors from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) who have been in mainland China for no more than 183 days in a row. You need your passport, which records your last entry date.
• Minimum: 200 yuan spent in the same shop on the same day, down from 500 yuan before 27 April 2025.
• How much back: 11% of the price for goods taxed at the standard 13% VAT rate and 8% for goods taxed at 9%, minus the refund agent's handling fee. The fee is set locally. Ask the shop or counter what the fee is where you are.
• Cash or bank: refunds are paid in yuan. Up to 20,000 yuan you can choose cash or a bank transfer; above that it has to be a bank transfer.
• Deadline: you must leave China within 90 days of buying the goods, and within 183 days of your last entry.
• Not covered: goods on the prohibited or restricted export lists, and goods that are already VAT-exempt. The goods must be for your own use and bought by you in person.

How it works now that it is paperless

Before you pay, look for a tax-refund sign at the shop or ask the staff whether they are a registered tax-refund store. When you pay, show your passport and get the invoice; the shop then issues the departure tax refund form through the national system. Since 1 July 2026 the whole process can be done online, without paper forms. Beijing's tax office describes a "departure tax refund service code": you scan a code with your phone browser once, enter your details, and the code then works at refund shops and departure ports across China, with your e-forms, e-invoices and progress shown on your phone.

At the airport, go to customs first to have the goods checked. Then, after border control, take your passport to the refund agent's counter in the restricted area. For forms under 10,000 yuan, customs now checks a random share of claims in person; forms of 10,000 yuan or more are always checked. That is why the goods should be in your hand luggage, unused, until you have finished.

Instant refund in the shop

Some shops offer an "instant refund" (即买即退, jí mǎi jí tuì). You sign an agreement and the shop places a pre-authorisation hold on your credit card, and you get cash in yuan equal to the refund there and then. You then have to leave China within the agreed period through a designated port and have the goods checked by customs. Under the 2026 changes, that period is being made 28 days everywhere, and you can finish the process at a port in a different city from where you shopped. If you don't leave in time, the agent takes the money back from your credit card within three working days after the deadline. A tax-authority notice reported by Xinhua in July 2026 also says that from 1 September 2026 shops can upload your passport so the paperwork is reviewed online at the time of purchase; ask the shop to confirm how it handles this.

This helps if you are short of time at the airport, but you still have to leave through a designated port where customs can check the goods, or the money is taken back from your card. Ask the shop which ports count. Bring a credit card, not a debit card, for the hold.

Who runs the counters

Refund agents are chosen by each province. Bank of China acts as the agent in about 19 provinces and cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Shandong, Jiangsu and Hainan, with counters at departure ports and instant refund in some areas. Its English tax refund page lists the current regions. In Beijing, for example, there is a refund window in Terminal 3 at Capital Airport, and five central instant-refund points in the city (WF Central, Seasons Place, China World Mall, Sanlitun and Shine Hills) where purchases from more than 1,500 refund shops can be processed. The State Taxation Administration's English notice on the 2026 refund changes has the official wording.

Duty-free shops at the airport

Departure duty-free shops sell imported goods free of import taxes, plus Chinese goods with tax already refunded, but only to passengers who have finished exit formalities, so you shop there after border control. The till will usually ask to see your boarding pass. That is the difference from the tax refund: duty-free prices already exclude the tax, while the tax refund gives you back VAT on things you bought in town. Since 1 November 2025, these shops must give more space to Chinese brands, can sell more categories such as phones and over-the-counter medicine, and may offer online pre-ordering for pickup.

Before you leave for the airport: a checklist

Leftover money

Spend or change your yuan before you go, because it is harder to change back outside China. You can convert leftover yuan to foreign currency in town or before departure at banks and licensed exchange counters, which display an exchange sign. Bank of China's published rule is up to the equivalent of 500 US dollars a day with your passport, or up to 1,000 US dollars a day at its counters in the departure area of a port; for more, bring your passport and the original exchange receipt, which is valid for 24 months. China Construction Bank publishes a similar rule: up to 500 US dollars a day with just a passport at any branch, and more with the original receipt. Keep your exchange receipts until you leave. Airport exchange counters usually give worse rates than banks, so use them only for small amounts. Our guide on where to exchange money covers the counters and receipts.

If you used a digital yuan (e-CNY) wallet, you can send the remaining balance back to the foreign card you topped it up with. Do this before you fly; the steps are in our e-CNY guide.

The list

• Passport, and the last day of your permitted stay checked
• Airline check-in cut-off checked for your terminal; transport to the airport booked
• Tax refund: service code or forms on your phone, invoices saved, refund goods unused and in your hand luggage
• A credit card for any instant-refund hold you still need to clear
• Nothing with bear bile, musk, pangolin or other endangered ingredients in your bags
• Any real antiques have the export mark and permit; reproductions have the shop invoice
• Chinese cash under 20,000 yuan per person; leftover yuan changed back
• e-CNY balance sent back to your card
• Power banks in hand luggage, liquids in 100 mL containers in one clear bag, spirits in the checked bag

Summary

Arrive about three hours early and check your airline's cut-off. Keep tax-refund goods in your hand luggage, get them checked at customs, and collect the refund airside after border control. Make sure your stay hasn't run out, leave endangered-ingredient medicines and unpermitted antiques behind, and change leftover yuan and e-CNY back before you fly. If you are still planning, our money exchange guide and visa extension guide cover the steps that need doing in town.

Last updated: October 2026