Short answer: not until your case is resolved. If you are a criminal suspect or defendant in China — including a foreign national — the law makes you subject to an exit ban, and once the authorities put your name on the border-control no-exit list, you will be stopped even with a valid passport and visa. You can normally leave only after the case closes, or earlier if the authority concerned formally lifts the restriction.

What does the law say?

Article 28 of China’s Exit and Entry Administration Law (effective July 2013) lists when a foreigner may not leave China. The first ground covers this situation directly: a foreigner who has not yet completed a criminal sentence, or who is a criminal defendant or suspect in a criminal case, is not allowed to exit — subject to prisoner-transfer treaties with the country concerned. Chinese citizens face a parallel rule under Article 12.

In practice, when a case is opened the police, procuratorate or court can notify the exit-entry administration, and the person’s name goes onto the no-exit list — many people only find out at the airport. Being released on bail does not mean you are free to travel: under Article 71(1) of the Criminal Procedure Law, a suspect on bail pending trial may not leave the city or county where he or she resides without approval from the enforcing authority.

What does this mean in practice?

Do not test the system. All border checkpoints share the same border-control database, so trying to slip out through another city or a land crossing will not work and usually backfires: you can be detained on the spot, and the attempt will be treated as flight risk in your case.

If you genuinely need to travel — a family emergency or urgent business — your lawyer should apply in writing to the authority handling the case (or, on bail, to the enforcing authority), stating the purpose, dates and destination. If the investigation ends without charge or the case ends in acquittal, the restriction is lifted and you are free to leave; after a custodial sentence, you may leave once the sentence is completed.

Hypothetical example

A foreign operations director is questioned as a witness in a contract-fraud investigation. Months later, without any arrest, he books a flight home and only learns at the airport that he has been re-classified as a suspect and placed on the no-exit list. His lawyer applies to lift the restriction; it is granted only after the procuratorate later decides not to prosecute. The scenario is hypothetical, but the sequence — no arrest, no warning, a block at the border — happens regularly in practice.

Bottom line: once you are a suspect or defendant in China, assume you cannot leave until the case ends. Have your lawyer check your exit status before booking any international flight.

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Frequently asked questions

Q: What does the law say?

A: Article 28 of China’s Exit and Entry Administration Law (effective July 2013) lists when a foreigner may not leave China. The first ground covers this situation directly: a foreigner who has not yet completed a criminal sentence, or who is a criminal defendant or suspect in a criminal case, is not allowed to exit — subject to prisoner-transfer treaties with the country concerned. Chinese citizens face a parallel rule under Article 12.

Q: What does this mean in practice?

A: Do not test the system. All border checkpoints share the same border-control database, so trying to slip out through another city or a land crossing will not work and usually backfires: you can be detained on the spot, and the attempt will be treated as flight risk in your case.

Wang Guan | Co-founder, Beijing Haolue Law Firm | +86 17813108512