Planning a Shoot in China: What to Confirm Before You Travel
Before you commit to flights, deposits or a shooting schedule in mainland China, five things need separate confirmation: who may enter and do what, whether the production itself needs approval, whether each location will let you in, how equipment gets there, and whether any aerial work is realistic. None of these answers the others. A valid entry route does not settle filming; a location owner's agreement does not settle customs; a registered drone does not settle airspace. This article sets out the checks, who typically confirms each, and what should be resolved before anything non-refundable is booked. It covers mainland China only. Hong Kong and Macau have their own entry, filming and customs processes and should be planned as separate jurisdictions.
Contents
- Start with four facts about the project
- Five checks that do not substitute for each other
- 1. Entry and activity eligibility
- 2. Production-related approvals
- 3. Site access
- 4. Equipment: bring or rent
- 5. Drones: two separate questions
- Timing, holidays and location conditions
- Copyable pre-travel confirmation checklist
- Next step
Start with four facts about the project
Every check below depends on the same inputs, so fix them first, even provisionally. The inquiry brief in the first article of this series already captures them.
- Production type and intended use. A brand film, a corporate interview, a documentary segment, social content and a theatrical feature can fall under different rules, and for some of these the current requirements still have to be confirmed. Intended distribution matters, not just format.
- Activities. Filming, interviewing, directing, operating equipment, presenting on camera. Each person's actual activity, not their job title, drives the entry question.
- People. Nationality, country of residence, role and length of stay for everyone travelling.
- Exact locations. City, named site, indoor or outdoor, and who controls it.
Change any of these and the affected confirmations need to be redone.
Five separate pre-travel checks
Check people and activities, production requirements, site access, equipment arrangements and the specific flight separately. These are parallel enquiries; one confirmation does not replace another.
One brief. Separate confirmations.
- People & activities
Traveller · role · actual work
- Production requirements
Category · applicant · conditions
- Site access
Spaces · dates · permitted setup
- Equipment
Inventory · carriage · customs
- Specific aerial operation
Aircraft · pilot · place · flight
Five checks that do not substitute for each other
1. Entry and activity eligibility
Mainland China's consular guidance lists distinct visa categories by purpose. Commercial visits, work, and news coverage by foreign journalists are separate routes with different supporting documents. Official trial rules on short-term work tasks, in force since 2015, expressly include film shoots such as advertising films and documentaries among the activities that can count as work even for short stays, with a work-approval route attached. The unilateral visa-free policy for eligible ordinary passports lists permitted purposes and excludes work and news reporting. Other waiver and transit arrangements have their own conditions and must be checked separately.
In practice: do not assume one category fits the whole crew, do not treat a short visit or overseas payment as proof that no work route is needed, and do not treat visa-free eligibility as permission to film. The 2015 procedure uses older document names and agency titles, so have your local production partner, the relevant consulate and, where applicable, the work-permit authority confirm the current route and paperwork for each traveller's nationality, role and activity.
2. Production-related approvals
Where China's film law and the regulations on Sino-foreign cooperative production apply, they set out approval structures, restrict independent foreign film production and involve a Chinese-side applicant. Those instruments do not provide a complete permission map for every commercial, branded, corporate or online-only project. A format label is not an exemption. The correct reading is: identify your production category, then ask your local partner to name the responsible authority and applicant for that category, in writing, and to state what remains unconfirmed. A fixer's involvement does not by itself make the production eligible.
3. Site access
Public streets, private interiors, factories and institutions, scenic areas and transport hubs are different access situations. A written agreement from a private owner covers only what that owner controls; it does not answer the entry, production-approval or equipment questions above. For each named location, confirm who controls it, what written permission exists, how many people and which equipment are allowed, and whether site-specific insurance or safety documents are required. Do not generalise from one location to another, and do not treat a small crew or handheld camera as a reason to skip the check.
4. Equipment: bring or rent
If you bring professional equipment, a customs announcement from 2019 extended ATA Carnet acceptance in mainland China to professional equipment and commercial samples, with admission tied to carnet validity. That makes a carnet a candidate route, not a guarantee. Confirm the exact item list, port of entry and exit, customs handling and re-export obligations with the carnet issuer and a receiving broker. Clearance is a customs outcome and says nothing about filming permission.
If you rent locally, specification and availability are the checks: exact models, accepted alternatives, test arrangements and who operates specialist items. Rail travel between cities has published carry-on weight and size limits, so match your case list to the chosen transport before assuming the crew and kit travel together.
5. Drones: two separate questions
Can this flight happen here? National regulations in force since January 2024 govern controlled airspace and flight applications, and local rules can add restrictions. Beijing, for example, has adopted a revised municipal regulation taking effect on 15 November 2026 with broad limits on flying, possessing and bringing in drones, subject to limited special arrangements. Check the rules in force for your city and shoot date, not a general national picture.
Is this operator and aircraft eligible? The same national framework separates aircraft registration, operator certificates, pilot licensing and insurance, with licence requirements by aircraft class and restrictions on foreign pilots for certain flight types. Owners of all types of civil drones must complete real-name registration on the national platform before use. The platform also handles airspace lookup and flight applications; the specified application exemptions do not exempt aircraft from registration. Registration alone does not authorise a flight; for foreign personnel, check platform onboarding and recognition of any required pilot credentials separately.
Plan a ground-based alternative for every aerial shot: elevated positions, cranes or sliders, or stock footage whose licence terms you have actually read. Third-party footage is not automatically cleared for your use.
Timing, holidays and location conditions
Work backwards from the first non-refundable booking. Separate the stages for each check: enquiry made, application submitted, confirmation received, dates locked. Do not rely on a generic nationwide lead time; ask for the specific authority's current expectation and treat anything unconfirmed as open risk.
Check the State Council holiday calendar for your shoot year. For 2026 it includes Spring Festival from 15 to 23 February and National Day from 1 to 7 October, with adjusted working days around each. Holidays can affect availability of suppliers, locations and transport; confirm with each one individually rather than assuming closure or surcharge.
Weather decisions belong to the location and date, not the country. Official forecast and warning services exist nationally and by city, but they do not predict conditions at one rooftop or mountain road. Name a decision-maker and a cut-off time, and keep an indoor option.
Intercity moves add a second set of location checks and a handover between teams or a travelling crew; the third article of this series covers how to organise that.
Copyable pre-travel confirmation checklist
Fill in owners, evidence and deadlines for your project. Leave nothing blank; write "unconfirmed" where that is the truth. The final row lists the changes that send you back to the relevant line.
More columns: swipe the table, or focus it and use the arrow keys.
| ITEM | PROPOSED OWNER / VERIFICATION CONTACT | CONFIRMATION EVIDENCE | DEPENDS ON | PROJECT DEADLINE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Production type and intended use fixed | Client producer | Written brief | — | ____ |
| Traveller list: nationality, residence, role, activity, dates | Client producer | Roster | Brief | ____ |
| Entry/work route per traveller | Local partner + relevant consulate + work-permit authority where applicable | Written confirmation per person | Roster, production type | ____ |
| Production approval route and applicant | Local partner + named authority | Written statement of requirement or non-requirement | Production type | ____ |
| Site access per location | Local partner + site controller | Written permission with scope and limits | Location list, equipment list | ____ |
| Site insurance/safety documents | Client + site controller | Documents accepted by site | Site access | ____ |
| Equipment list finalised: models, serials, values | Technical lead | Signed list | Brief | ____ |
| Equipment route: carnet or rental | Client + carnet issuer + broker / rental house | Carnet or rental confirmation with models | Equipment list, ports | ____ |
| Transport capacity for crew and cases | Local partner | Vehicle/rail plan against case list | Equipment route | ____ |
| Drone airspace/location feasibility | Local partner + local authority | Written confirmation for date and site | Location, date | ____ |
| Drone operator/aircraft eligibility | Operator + relevant authority where needed | Real-name registration; applicable operator certificate, pilot licence and insurance; foreign-person onboarding and credential recognition checked separately | Aircraft, personnel, activity | ____ |
| Ground-based alternative agreed | Director + client | Shot list revision | — | ____ |
| Holiday and weather decision points | Client producer | Dated decision log | Shoot dates | ____ |
| Recheck triggers: traveller nationality or role; production type or distribution; location, especially private to public; equipment list or port; shoot date into a holiday or past a rule's commencement; any added aerial work | Client producer | Change log with owner named | All above | ____ |
Next step
Fill in the four project facts and send them, with the checklist, to your local production partner. Ask them to return it with owners named and every unconfirmed item marked as such. Once the dependencies are visible, use the first article to price the confirmed scope and the third to allocate the people who will carry it out.
Official sources and dates
Sources checked on 19 October 2026. The links identify the factual references used above; project-specific eligibility, approvals, local restrictions and current paperwork still need confirmation with the relevant authorities or a qualified local adviser before booking.
- Visa Application Instructions of the People’s Republic of China.
Supports the distinction between commercial visits, work and foreign-journalist news coverage; it does not classify an individual crew member’s activities.
- FAQs on Visa-free Entry into China.
The cited unilateral ordinary-passport policy excludes work and news coverage. Other waivers and transit schemes require their own checks.
- Short-term work procedure (trial). 外国人入境完成短期工作任务的相关办理程序（试行）
Historical document and agency names must be checked against current administration; the old checklist is not a current project approval.
- Film Industry Promotion Law. 中华人民共和国电影产业促进法
Read the statutory film definition and approval/cooperation provisions together; a format label alone does not determine a project’s requirements.
- Sino-foreign cooperative film production rules. 中外合作摄制电影片管理规定
The instrument distinguishes cooperation structures and a Chinese-side application. Confirm the current applicant and authority for the actual production category.
- GAC Announcement No. 13 of 2019. 海关总署公告2019年第13号（关于暂时进出境货物监管有关事宜的公告）
The linked PDF reproduces the Customs notice; it is a mirror, not the Customs website. Item-specific acceptance, port handling and re-export arrangements remain to be confirmed.
- Interim Regulations on the Administration of Unmanned Aircraft Flights. 无人驾驶航空器飞行管理暂行条例
Registration, operator/pilot conditions, airspace and flight applications are separate. Article 35 has activity-specific foreign-operation restrictions; it is not a blanket statement about every foreign pilot.
- CAAC notice on civil unmanned aircraft regulatory services. 中国民用航空局关于民用无人驾驶航空器监管服务有关事宜的公告
Application exceptions in item V do not replace the registration requirement in item III. This reference does not verify foreign-account onboarding or credential recognition.
- Beijing unmanned aircraft regulation, September 2026 revision. 北京市无人驾驶航空器管理规定
This is a Beijing example for the stated effective date. It does not establish the rules for another city or a different shoot date.
- State Council General Office notice on the 2026 holiday arrangements. 国务院办公厅关于2026年部分节假日安排的通知
Calendar dates do not establish whether an individual supplier or location closes or charges a surcharge.
