Eligibility Requirements

The following persons, if they hold motor vehicle driving licenses issued by foreign countries, or China's Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR or Taiwan region, must meet the following requirements and must not be subject to any statutory disqualification from applying for a driving license:

- Residents of Beijing;

- Residents of the Chinese mainland who live in Beijing;

- Active-duty military personnel, including members of the People's Armed Police Force, whose units are stationed in Beijing;

- Persons from outside the Chinese mainland, whose place of residence or temporary residence is in Beijing.

(1) Age Requirements

1. Applicants for driving licenses for small cars, small automatic-transmission cars, small passenger cars with automatic transmission for people with disabilities, or light motorcycles must be at least 18 years of age;

2. Applicants for driving licenses for ordinary three‑wheeled motorcycles or ordinary two‑wheeled motorcycles must be at least 18 years of age and not more than 70 years of age;

3. Applicants for driving licenses for light towing trailers must be at least 20 years of age and not more than 70 years of age;

4. Applicants for driving licenses for low‑speed goods vehicles, three‑wheeled motor vehicles, or wheeled mobile machinery for special purpose must be at least 18 years of age and not more than 63 years of age;

5. Applicants for driving licenses for city buses, medium‑sized passenger buses, large goods vehicles, trolleybuses, or trams must be at least 20 years of age and not more than 63 years of age;

6. Applicants for driving licenses for large passenger buses or heavy towing trailers must be at least 22 years of age and not more than 63 years of age.

(2) Physical Requirements

1. Height: Those who apply for the driving category of large passenger vehicles, heavy tractor-trailers, city buses, large cargo vehicles, or trolleybuses shall have a height of 155 centimeters or above. Those who apply for the driving category of medium-sized passenger vehicles shall have a height of 150 centimeters or above;

2. Visual acuity: Those who apply for the driving category of large passenger buses, heavy tractor-trailers, city buses, medium-sized passenger vehicles, large cargo vehicles, trolleybuses or trams shall have uncorrected or corrected visual acuity of 5.0 or above in both eyes on the logarithmic visual acuity chart. For those who apply for other driving categories, their uncorrected or corrected visual acuity of both eyes shall be 4.9 or above on the standard logarithmic visual acuity chart. Persons with monocular visual impairment, whose better eye has uncorrected or corrected visual acuity of 5.0 or above on the logarithmic visual acuity chart and a horizontal field of view of 150 degrees, may each apply for a motor vehicle driving license for the driving category of small cars, small automatic transmission cars, low-speed cargo vehicles, three-wheeled vehicles, or small automatic passenger vehicles for persons with disabilities;

3. Color perception: No red-green color blindness;

4. Hearing: Applicants shall be able to identify the direction of a sound source when a tuning fork is placed 50 centimeters away from each ear, with each ear tested separately. Applicants with hearing impairment who can satisfy the above requirement with hearing aids may each apply for a motor vehicle driving license for the driving category of small cars or small automatic transmission cars;

5. Upper limbs: Both thumbs shall be intact, each hand shall have at least three other intact fingers, and limbs and fingers shall have normal motor function. However, applicants with incomplete distal finger segments, and those with at least three intact fingers on the left hand and intact palms on both hands, may each apply for a motor vehicle driving license for the driving category of small cars, small automatic transmission cars, low-speed cargo vehicles or three-wheeled vehicles;

6. Lower limbs: Both lower limbs shall be intact with normal motor function, and the length difference between the two limbs shall not exceed 5 centimeters. Applicants whose left lower limb alone is missing or has lost motor function while the right lower limb remains normal may each apply for a motor vehicle driving license for the driving category of small automatic transmission cars;

7. Trunk and neck: No impairment of motor function;

8. Applicants whose right lower limb or both lower limbs are missing or have lost motor function may each apply for a motor vehicle driving license for the driving category of small automatic passenger vehicles for persons with disabilities, provided they can sit upright independently and their upper limbs comply with the provisions of Item 5 of this subsection. Applicants missing one palm may also apply for the aforesaid driving category, on condition that the other hand has an intact thumb plus at least two other intact fingers, upper limbs and fingers have normal motor function, and their lower limbs comply with the provisions of Item 6 of this subsection;

9. Applicants aged 70 or above who pass the tests covering memory, judgment, reaction capacity and other cognitive abilities may apply for a motor vehicle driving license for the driving category of small cars, small automatic transmission cars, small automatic passenger vehicles for persons with disabilities or lightweight motorcycles.

(3) Circumstances Rendering an Applicant Ineligible

1. Suffering from any disease that endangers safe driving, including organic heart disease, epilepsy, Meniere's syndrome, vertigo, hysteria, paralysis agitans, mental illness, dementia, and neurological disorders affecting limb mobility;

2. Having used or injected drugs within the past three years; having been released from compulsory isolated drug rehabilitation less than three years ago; or having an unresolved addiction caused by long-term use of dependence-producing psychotropic drugs;

3. Having committed a criminal offense by fleeing the scene after causing a traffic accident;

4. Having committed a criminal offense by causing a major traffic accident while driving a motor vehicle after consuming alcohol or while intoxicated;

5. Having had one's motor vehicle driving license revoked in accordance with the law for driving a motor vehicle while intoxicated or for driving a commercial motor vehicle after consuming alcohol, where fewer than five years have elapsed since the revocation;

6. Having had one's motor vehicle driving license revoked in accordance with the law for driving a commercial motor vehicle while intoxicated, where fewer than 10 years have elapsed since the revocation;

7. Having had one's motor vehicle driving license revoked in accordance with the law for committing a criminal offense by engaging in street racing or competitive driving, carrying more passengers than permitted, exceeding the speed limit, or transporting hazardous chemicals in violation of the regulations on the safety management of hazardous chemicals, where fewer than five years have elapsed since the revocation;

8. Fewer than 10 years having elapsed since the driving license was revoked in accordance with law for committing a criminal offense by causing a major traffic accident through other violations of traffic laws or regulations (other than a criminal offense committed by causing a major traffic accident while driving a motor vehicle after consuming alcohol or while intoxicated);

9. Fewer than two years having elapsed since the driving license was revoked in accordance with law for other reasons;

10. Fewer than three years having elapsed since the driving permit was revoked in accordance with law;

11. Fewer than 10 years having elapsed since the applicant caused serious injury or death in a traffic accident while driving a motor vehicle without having obtained a motor vehicle driving license and was determined to bear equal or greater responsibility for the accident;

12. Having taken a motor vehicle driver's test on behalf of another person within the past three years;

13. Other circumstances prescribed by laws and administrative regulations.

Any person who drives a motor vehicle without having obtained a motor vehicle driving license and falls under any of the following circumstances may not apply for a motor vehicle driving license within the prescribed period:

- Fewer than five years have elapsed since the driving license was revoked in accordance with law for driving a motor vehicle while intoxicated or for driving a commercial motor vehicle after consuming alcohol;

- Fewer than 10 years have elapsed since the driving license was revoked in accordance with law for driving a commercial motor vehicle while intoxicated;

- Fewer than five years have elapsed since the driving license was revoked in accordance with law for committing a criminal offense by driving a motor vehicle in street racing, overloading, speeding, or transporting hazardous chemicals in violation of the regulations on the safety management of hazardous chemicals;

- Fewer than 10 years have elapsed since the driving license was revoked in accordance with law for committing a criminal offense by causing a major traffic accident through other violations of traffic laws or regulations (other than a criminal offense committed by causing a major traffic accident while driving a motor vehicle after consuming alcohol or while intoxicated).

(4) Circumstances Rendering an Applicant Ineligible for a Driving License for Large Passenger Buses, Heavy Towing Trailers, City Buses, Medium-Sized Passenger Buses, or Large Goods Vehicles

1. Having caused a traffic accident resulting in death and bearing equal or greater responsibility for the accident;

2. Having driven a motor vehicle while intoxicated;

3. Having committed a repeat offense of driving a motor vehicle after consuming alcohol;

4. Having driven a motor vehicle after using or injecting drugs, or having a record of being subject to community-based drug rehabilitation, compulsory isolated drug rehabilitation, or community-based rehabilitation measures;

5. Having committed a criminal offense by engaging in street racing or competitive driving, carrying more passengers than permitted, exceeding the speed limit, or transporting hazardous chemicals in violation of the regulations on the safety management of hazardous chemicals;

6. Fewer than 10 years having elapsed since the driving license was revoked or canceled in accordance with law;

7. Having driven a motor vehicle without having obtained a motor vehicle driving license and having caused serious injury or death in a traffic accident for which the applicant bears equal or greater responsibility.

(5) An applicant who holds an overseas motor vehicle driving license, meets the application requirements set out in these provisions, and, at the time of obtaining the license, has resided in the country or region that issued the license for a cumulative total of at least 90 days within a one-year period, may apply for a motor vehicle driving license for the corresponding vehicle category. Applicants applying for a driving license for large passenger buses, heavy towing trailers, or medium-sized passenger buses must also have held a corresponding overseas driving license for at least two years.

(6) An applicant who holds a motor vehicle driving license issued in the Chinese mainland for small automatic-transmission cars may, upon presentation of an overseas motor vehicle driving license that authorizes the holder to drive small cars, exchange that license for a motor vehicle driving license for small cars without taking a driving test;

An applicant who holds a motor vehicle driving license issued in the Chinese mainland for light motorcycles may, upon presentation of an overseas motor vehicle driving license that authorizes the holder to drive ordinary two-wheeled motorcycles and ordinary three-wheeled motorcycles, exchange that license for a motor vehicle driving license for ordinary two-wheeled motorcycles and ordinary three-wheeled motorcycles without taking a driving test;

An applicant who holds a motor vehicle driving license issued in the Chinese mainland for ordinary two-wheeled motorcycles may, upon presentation of an overseas motor vehicle driving license that authorizes the holder to drive ordinary three-wheeled motorcycles, exchange that license for a motor vehicle driving license for ordinary three-wheeled motorcycles without taking a driving test.

(7) Where a Chinese citizen returns to the Chinese mainland from overseas and applies to exchange an overseas motor vehicle driving license for a motor vehicle driving license issued in the Chinese mainland, if no more than six months have elapsed since the expiration of the overseas motor vehicle driving license, the application may be made through normal procedures.

Vehicle Categories for Which Applications May Be Made

Applicants may apply for motor vehicle driving licenses issued in the Chinese mainland corresponding to the authorized vehicle categories of the overseas motor vehicle driving licenses they hold. However, if they do not meet the eligibility requirements for the corresponding vehicle categories in terms of age, height, or other eligibility conditions, or voluntarily choose lower vehicle categories, they may apply for driving licenses for lower vehicle categories for which they meet the requirements.