All Chinese driver’s licenses come with a 12-month penalty point allowance of 12 points. This means that within any 12-month penalty point period, you can accumulate a maximum of 12 penalty points before your license is suspended. 

Each 12-month penalty point period is calculated from the day your driver’s license was issued. For example, if your driver’s license was issued on May 1, 2024, your first 12-month penalty point period will run from May 1, 2024, to April 30, 2025. 

So long as you have properly dealt with any penalty points, paid the resulting fines, and have not accumulated 12 or more points, your allowance will be reset on the first day of the following 12-month period (in the example given above, the penalty point period would reset on May 1, 2025). 

If you have reached or exceeded the 12-point allowance in any 12-month period, your license will be automatically suspended. If you are discovered driving on a suspended license, it will be confiscated by the traffic police. 

To reinstate your driver’s license, you must, within 15 days of your license being suspended, attend a seven-day traffic safety law awareness course at your local motor vehicle management office and pass the exam at the end of the course. The course and the exam are both administered in Chinese. 

If you incur a traffic infraction, it will be recorded against the vehicle you were driving at the time of the infraction. If the vehicle is under your name, you will receive an SMS informing you of the traffic infraction. You must proceed to the vehicle management office within 15 days with your driver’s license, vehicle license, and identity document (passport/permanent resident ID card) to process the infraction, pay the fine, and have the penalty points added to your driver’s license. If you rented the vehicle, the vehicle rental company will contact you regarding the infraction and hold your deposit to ensure that the associated fine and penalty points are processed under your name. 

To access your information about both your driver’s license and vehicle (if applicable), you can download and register an account with the 12123 Vehicle Management mobile application (交管12123). Register using the passport/permanent resident ID card number and Chinese name shown on your driver’s license. You can only do this if you have a full Chinese driver’s license.