Bringing a pet

Can I keep my dog or cat in this city?

Import rules are national. Whether you can actually keep the animal where you live is decided city by city — that is the part almost no English guide answers.

Dog or cat?

Bringing an animal in person: dogs and cats only

What decides this is not which animals we happen to list — it is that the official announcement lists only dogs and cats. China Customs allows each traveller to bring one dog or one cat as an accompanying pet (Customs Announcement 2019 No. 5). Rabbits, birds, reptiles, ferrets and other animals are not on that accompanying-pet route — if you want one of those, you would adopt or buy it after you arrive in China.

"No accompanying-pet route" is not the same as "cannot enter at all". A separate, professional import-quarantine approval route exists, and it is a different process from travelling with a pet — different paperwork, different timelines, different authority.

Bringing a horse into China

If you are unsure which category your animal falls into, call the national customs hotline 12360 (your area code + 12360) before you travel and confirm with the port customs office. The decision rests with the customs officer handling your case, not with us.

Official source

Bringing a horse into China

A horse cannot travel with you as an accompanying pet. It goes through China's separate import-animal quarantine approval — an entirely different channel from the dog-and-cat pet route. If you genuinely need to bring a horse (competition, breeding, relocating your own horse), these are steps you complete yourself:

  1. Apply for a quarantine permit — before the horse ships, apply to the General Administration of Customs (GACC) for the Quarantine Permit of the People's Republic of China for Entry Animals and Plants (Customs decides within 20 days of accepting your application).
  2. Confirm your country's access requirements — the exact quarantine and health standards vary by country of export and follow the quarantine-access terms or protocol China has agreed with that country; countries that have not established quarantine access may be unable to export.
  3. Arrange a designated quarantine facility — after entry the horse must complete isolation quarantine at a customs-designated facility (usually no fewer than 30 days; the exact period is set by Customs).
  4. Ask before you travel — call the national customs service hotline 12360 (area code + 12360), or check the latest requirements with the port customs office.

This is a professional, commercial-grade process — not personal pet travel. If you want to ride a horse in China rather than bring one in, that is a leisure activity (horse-riding and equestrian activities coming soon).

Measures for Quarantine Approval of Entry Animals and Plants (GACC)Measures for Supervision of Entry-Animal Isolation Quarantine Facilities

Ask about your specific situation

This is an AI assistant, not a customs or registration officer. Bringing an animal into China is a matter of life and death for that animal — always confirm with customs or the local registering authority before you travel.