How to get non-emergency official help in China
A visitor-first way to separate emergency calls, city service enquiries, immigration questions, and consular document help without assuming one hotline can resolve every problem.
Choose the service by the live problem, not by the fastest-looking number. For an immediate emergency, call the relevant emergency line: 110 for police, 119 for fire, 120 for medical emergencies, or 122 for a traffic accident. Do not use a non-emergency service channel instead. In Beijing, the official 12345 Citizen Service Hotline is a non-emergency city-service route for topics such as transport, residence, living, and medical services, with listed multilingual support. For a China immigration, visa, stay, exit-entry, or related service question, use the National Immigration Administration's 12367 service platform. For a passport or country-specific consular document question, contact your own embassy or consulate through its official channel, then confirm any China-side immigration step with the responsible Chinese authority. None of these routes promises a particular language, outcome, deadline, or case resolution.
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Common apps and official downloads
Choose apps for your actual itinerary, finish account setup, and test the features you need before departure. Install only from the official store listing.
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Save before you go
Run a short no-signal rehearsal instead of assuming every app is ready.
- Open downloaded maps or language tools in airplane mode.
- Save the exact Chinese hotel and station names.
- Keep account recovery and itinerary access independent of one phone.
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Emergency numbers in China
Call only for a real emergency. Say the exact location first; ask nearby staff to help communicate when safe.
Start with the authority that owns the current problem
A city-service enquiry, immigration question, provider dispute, and consular document problem are different cases. Use the emergency number first if anyone is in immediate danger: 110 for police, 119 for fire, 120 for medical emergencies, and 122 for traffic accidents. Beijing's official 12345 page describes 12345 as a non-emergency channel and explicitly directs emergencies to those numbers. Do not wait for a hotel, app, insurer, embassy, or non-emergency hotline before seeking urgent help.
- For a non-emergency Beijing question about a city service, start with the official 12345 channel. Its published topics include transportation, residence, living, and medical services; its language options and callback or case handling depend on the live service.
- For visa, stay, accommodation-registration, entry, exit, or other immigration-administration questions, use the NIA's 12367 service platform or the relevant local exit-entry service window. Do not ask a city-service operator or an airline to decide immigration status.
- For an airline, train, hotel, wallet, insurer, ride, rental, or hospital matter, contact the responsible provider through its verified official route first unless an emergency or official-reporting duty overrides that sequence.
Use 12345 as a local non-emergency path, not a nationwide promise
Beijing publishes 12345 as a city-service hotline and online channel, with calls available through (+86 10) 12345 and support in multiple languages. That is useful evidence for a Beijing visitor question, but it is not proof that every city uses the same number, languages, subjects, workflow, or response time. Outside Beijing, check the destination city's official government or visitor channel, or ask a staffed hotel, station, airport, or service counter to identify the current local route.
- Keep the city, district, place, provider name, date and time, and a short factual description ready. State what answer, direction, or referral you need rather than assuming the operator can reverse a provider decision.
- If the channel gives a reference number, record it with the official link and the facts you submitted. A reference is not a promise that a complaint, refund, booking, insurance claim, or immigration request will succeed.
- Do not share a password, PIN, verification code, payment QR code, passport image, or phone unlock with an unofficial helper. Follow a verified authority's live instructions if it needs case-specific information.
Use 12367 for China immigration administration questions
The National Immigration Administration describes 12367 as its integrated service platform for immigration-administration enquiries, suggestions, and reports. Its published information says the hotline provides around-the-clock service, including English, and later multilingual options; use the live voice menu or official NIA platform for the current language choices. It can help identify the correct immigration route, but it does not replace an on-site inspection, a local exit-entry decision, a border officer's instruction, or a document requirement for a particular case.
- Use it to ask which authority handles a visa, stay, residence, accommodation-registration, exit-entry, or border-inspection question, then confirm the required local window, documents, and timing for your actual status.
- Keep your question factual: nationality, current location, document type, and the event that changed. Do not upload or read out unnecessary passport, payment, health, or account details to a third party.
- If you are already at a port or exit-entry service window, follow the officer or staff member handling the live case; a hotline consultation is not advance approval or a substitute for their direction.
Keep consular documents and China-side status separate
Your own embassy or consulate is the official route for country-specific consular help and, where it offers them, a replacement passport or temporary travel document. China-side visa, stay, exit-entry, and carrier requirements remain separate. The State Council's visitor guide notes that a temporary international travel document issued by an embassy or consulate in China may need valid visa or stay documentation issued by the Chinese exit-entry authority for railway use. Treat that as an example of linked but separate roles, not a universal document checklist or a promise that a consular document restores travel automatically.
- Find your embassy or consulate only through your own government's official website or a verified official contact page; do not rely on an advert, search snippet, or a person offering paid document help.
- If a passport is lost, stolen, or damaged, deal with immediate safety first, make the police report required in the local process, then follow the consular and Chinese exit-entry sequence for the actual case.
- If the problem is a medical emergency, traffic accident, immediate crime, or fire, use 120, 122, 110, or 119 first. Consular contact and non-emergency escalation can follow once urgent instructions permit it.
Before you rely on this answer
China travel rules and app behavior can change by city, route, account, passport, airline, and local inspection practice. Treat this page as a traveler-friendly starting point, then verify official or provider details before booking or packing anything important.
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Frequently asked questions
Can I call 12345 for an emergency in China?
Not for an emergency. Beijing's official 12345 page describes it as a non-emergency channel and directs emergencies to 110 for police, 119 for fire, 120 for medical emergencies, and 122 for traffic accidents. Use the relevant emergency number first when there is immediate danger.
What is 12345 for in Beijing?
Beijing's official 12345 page presents it as a non-emergency city-service channel for topics including transportation, residence, living, and medical services, with published multilingual support. It does not establish the same service, languages, response time, or outcome in another Chinese city.
What is 12367 for in China?
The National Immigration Administration describes 12367 as its integrated service platform for immigration-administration enquiries, suggestions, and reports. Use it to identify the proper route for a China immigration matter, then follow the responsible local authority or officer for the live decision.
Can my embassy solve my China visa or exit problem?
Do not assume so. Your embassy or consulate is the official route for country-specific consular help and may handle a replacement passport or temporary travel document. China-side visa, stay, exit-entry, and carrier requirements are decided through the relevant Chinese authority and provider, so verify both sides of the process.