What should you do if you lose your passport in China in 2026?

Report the loss promptly. Many cities send you to a local police station first for a loss certification letter; Shanghai’s English guidance routes the first report to the municipal Exit-Entry Administration and notes a loss report that often issues within a few working days. Keep that report. It is the paper embassies and Exit-Entry desks expect next.

Apply for a new passport or emergency travel document at your country’s embassy or consulate in China with the loss report and whatever identity backups you still hold. When the new passport arrives, update temporary accommodation registration so the police record shows the new passport number: Register address. Then apply at Exit-Entry for a reissued visa, stay permit, or residence permit. National “Welcome to China” style guidance often says to finish that reissue within 10 days; Beijing English reissuance instructions and Shanghai pages publish local material lists and clocks, so follow the city where you reside.

A planned passport renewal uses a similar Exit-Entry update pattern once the new book exists, without the loss report: Update residence after a passport change. Either way, the old sticker does not magically migrate. Bring the new passport, old passport if still held, accommodation registration, photos, and the city checklist to Exit-Entry: Apply for a residence permit.

Notify your employer or school so work-permit or student records can match the new passport number when those systems require an update. Re-bind bank and payment apps only after identity documents match again: Open a bank account. Mandarin-only counters are common; bring a bilingual helper for the police and Exit-Entry visits: Chinese bureaucracy without Chinese.