Foreign Passport, No Escape? China’s Sept. 15 Deadline: Millions Of Overseas Chinese Fear New Rules

Aug 09, 2026 - 09:41

Coincidentally, another person recently claimed that they ran into major trouble while attempting to leave China through a border checkpoint in Guangxi en route to Vietnam. According to the post, several Chinese nationals with U.S. citizenship travelling on the same vehicle were detained for half a day while authorities checked their original household registrations. The person also said a business owner friend from Jiangsu and Zhejiang was asked by local police to return to China and “explain the situation” after the family factory was investigated over tax issues, leaving the friend too afraid to go back. For those who previously worked in China, had undeclared income, or still hold millions of yuan in domestic bank accounts, returning to China could potentially expose them to what critics describe as local authorities’ efforts to pursue revenue through aggressive enforcement actions.