Pet Transport from Australia to China
China splits the world in two. Roughly nineteen countries and territories sit on its designated list, among them Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Japan, …
The import process, in full
Responsible: Your veterinarian
Responsible: You
Responsible: You + airline or freight agent
Responsible: Your veterinarian
Responsible: Official government veterinarian
Responsible: You + China Customs
Which China rules depend on a pet coming from Australia?
China sorts countries into 2 groups, and Australia falls in “Designated countries or regions”.
Exempt from quarantine with a valid microchip and a satisfactory on-site inspection; no rabies antibody report needed Official source
These rules apply to that group, on top of the rules every pet follows:
- Quarantine: Exemption 1: pets from designated countries or regions with a valid microchip that pass on-site inspection are exempt from quarantine. Applies to dogs and cats from GACC designated countries or regions.
海关总署公告2019年第5号（关于进一步规范携带宠物入境检疫监管工作的公告）, checked 3 October 2026 - Rabies titre test: Not required: pets from GACC designated countries or regions do not need a rabies antibody (titre) test and may enter through any port with the correct health and vaccination certificates (Shanghai municipal government guide (sources: Shanghai Customs, Pudong Airport Customs, Huangpu Customs; updated 16 October 2025)). Applies to dogs and cats from GACC designated countries or regions.
How to bring a pet to Shanghai, checked 3 October 2026 - Import permit: Not required: Per Australian Government DAFF guidance for exports from Australia (Micor China entry, rewritten 11 August 2026 from information on the GACC website, last reviewed 18 August 2026): a pet dog or cat is exempt from China's import permit requirement. If one traveller has more than one pet, the pets are treated as a commercial consignment needing an import permit (and GACC allows only one pet per person per entry). China's own pages read (GACC Announcement 2019 No. 5 on gov.cn and the Shanghai guide) do not mention an import permit for pets, so this exporting-government guidance is the explicit statement relied on. Applies to pet dogs and cats travelling from Australia (DAFF states it generally, from the GACC website).
Micor: Live animals, China (CN), Dogs (entry last reviewed 18 August 2026), checked 3 October 2026 - Health certificate: Per Australian Government DAFF guidance for exports from Australia (Micor China entry, rewritten 11 August 2026 from information on the GACC website, last reviewed 18 August 2026): pet dogs and cats need an Australian Government endorsed health certificate, a rabies vaccination certificate, an ISO microchip, and a veterinary inspection within 14 days of arrival showing no evidence of infectious or contagious diseases or external parasites. Applies to pet dogs and cats travelling from Australia.
Micor: Live animals, China (CN), Dogs (entry last reviewed 18 August 2026), checked 3 October 2026 - How your pet may travel: Per Australian Government DAFF guidance for exports from Australia (Micor China entry, rewritten 11 August 2026 from information on the GACC website, last reviewed 18 August 2026): in March 2026 the Chinese authority advised that a pet dog or cat need not travel on the same flight as its owner and may be transported separately, but must arrive within 5 days after the owner's arrival. Applies to pet dogs and cats (DAFF guidance for exports from Australia, citing advice from the Chinese authority).
Micor: Live animals, China (CN), Dogs (entry last reviewed 18 August 2026), checked 3 October 2026Official sources differ
UK APHA notes for guidance 8902NFG (agreed 18/12/2025, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69a85a064dfc5b27a0669b50/8902NFG.pdf) say certificate 8902EHC is for a single cat or dog per person per entry where the animal accompanies the person. The DAFF entry is newer (Chinese advice of March 2026) and is kept. - Other vaccines and tests: Per Australian Government DAFF guidance for exports from Australia (Micor China entry, rewritten 11 August 2026 from information on the GACC website, last reviewed 18 August 2026): the Department understands that certain Chinese ports require distemper, hepatitis and parvovirus vaccination for dogs and feline panleukopenia, feline herpesvirus and feline calicivirus vaccination for cats; it strongly recommends these vaccinations, with the certificates presented for endorsement. The ports are not named. Applies to dogs and cats entering China (DAFF guidance for exports from Australia).
Micor: Live animals, China (CN), Dogs (entry last reviewed 18 August 2026), checked 3 October 2026Official sources differ
GACC Announcement 2019 No. 5 (https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2019-11/04/content_5448320.htm) and the Shanghai 'What to prepare' lists (https://english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-KeepingAPetInShanghai/20240927/988d600b49964546b41d3c342e4ebdb2.html) name only rabies vaccination, so these vaccines are not on the published lists; the DAFF statement is kept because exporting-government guidance says some ports require them. - Other vaccines and tests: For pets from Australia, the Shanghai municipal government guide (sources: Shanghai Customs, Pudong Airport Customs, Huangpu Customs; updated 16 October 2025) says the owner needs the official Australian animal health certificate, a vaccination certificate for other diseases and a microchip. Applies to dogs and cats from Australia.
How to bring a pet to Shanghai, checked 3 October 2026 - Other conditions: Per Australian Government DAFF guidance for exports from Australia (Micor China entry, rewritten 11 August 2026 from information on the GACC website, last reviewed 18 August 2026): the person bringing the pet must fill in the Registration Form for pet dogs and cats entering China (Annex 3 of GACC Announcement 2019 No. 5, listed on the gov.cn copy). Applies to pet dogs and cats travelling from Australia.
Micor: Live animals, China (CN), Dogs (entry last reviewed 18 August 2026), checked 3 October 2026
The rules that apply to every pet entering China, whatever the origin, are listed with their official sources in our China guide.
What does Australia require before your pet leaves?
- Export permit: A Notice of Intention (NOI) to Export Live Animals (other than Livestock) must reach the regional office at least 10 working days before departure or the start of isolation. Applies to dogs and cats exported from Australia.
Exporting companion animals and other live animals, checked 1 October 2026 - Export permit: An export permit is issued and the animal must leave within 72 hours of issue; fees apply to the NOI, the health certificate and the permit. Applies to dogs and cats exported from Australia.
Exporting companion animals and other live animals, checked 1 October 2026 - Export permit: All exported cats and dogs, including assistance dogs, need an export permit and health certificate (industry advice 80-2023, 11 April 2023). Applies to dogs and cats, including assistance dogs, exported from Australia.
80-2023: Information on international travel with cats, dogs and assistance dogs, checked 1 October 2026 - Export permit: Export permit fee for non-livestock animals (which includes exported cats and dogs): AUD 305 per document in 2026-27 (DAFF live animal exports cost recovery implementation statement 2026-27, Table 7 'Fees, charges and volumes', columns: modelled revenue AUD 2,925,255, modelled volume 9,591, 2026-27 price AUD 305). Time-based assessment and inspection fees and the NOI fee are charged separately. Applies to dogs and cats exported from Australia.
Cost recovery implementation statement: live animal exports 2026-27, checked 1 October 2026 - Export health certificate: DAFF's certifying veterinary officer assesses documents and prepares the export health certificate; DAFF charges a time-based fee for this. Check importing country requirements in MICoR. Page last updated 27 August 2026. Applies to dogs and cats exported from Australia.
Exporting companion animals and other live animals, checked 1 October 2026 - Other conditions: Final health and welfare examination by a registered veterinarian within 72 hours of departure (or the period the importing country sets), before the DAFF appointment. Applies to dogs and cats exported from Australia.
Exporting companion animals and other live animals, checked 1 October 2026
We handle the regulations for every animal, every country, every airline, so nothing on your Australia to China move gets missed.
Carriers on this route
Not all airlines accept live animals on this route. Confirm the operating carrier's current policy for every flight segment.
What this route typically costs
Critical points
One dog or one cat per person per entry. A couple travelling together can bring two animals between them; one person cannot, and needs a second traveller or a second trip.
Designated status can change by announcement. Confirm Australia is still on the current list before you book, since the list is maintained by China's customs administration and revised separately from the main rules.
Coming back is the hard direction. Australia's import regime is among the strictest anywhere, and a pet returning from China would face the full non-approved-country pathway.
What designation is actually worth
Set this route against the same journey from Canada and the difference is stark.
A Canadian dog is coming from a non-designated country. It needs a rabies antibody result above 0.5 IU/ml from a laboratory on China’s own designated list, recorded on the health certificate with the sampling date and the laboratory’s name. Without it, the animal spends thirty days in customs isolation and may only enter through a port equipped to hold it. And because China’s approved-laboratory list is not the same as the EU’s or the UK’s, a titre that satisfies Europe can be refused at the Chinese border.
An Australian dog skips all of that. The requirements are the microchip, the valid rabies vaccination certificate issued by the official animal quarantine authority, the quarantine certificate, and the household arithmetic below.
Two practical consequences. The timeline drops from three or four months to about a month, because there is no blood test to arrange and no laboratory turnaround to wait for. And the risk profile changes: the things that can go wrong on this route are logistical, a missed crate specification or a booking not confirmed, rather than a test result that arrives from the wrong laboratory after you have already committed to a date.
One caution to carry, though. Designated status is set by separate announcement and can move. Confirm Australia is on the current list before booking rather than assuming it from a guide, including this one.
One pet, one person, one entry
China’s rule is that live animals brought in are limited to one dog or one cat for each person per entry. It has been in force since 1 May 2019 and it is applied literally.
A couple relocating together with two dogs is fine, provided both people arrive on the same entry and each animal is documented against one of them. One person relocating with two dogs is not, and the options are a second traveller, a second trip, or leaving an animal behind temporarily, none of which is pleasant to discover late.
The airline rules stack on top rather than replacing it. China Southern takes one pet as checked baggage to 32kg combined in a cage no larger than 90 x 60 x 66cm, with the application made at booking and at least 72 hours before departure, and caps some flights at three animals in total. China Eastern allows one small animal per passenger on international flights and pushes anything whose three dimensions sum above 203cm into freight.
So the count that matters is the tighter of the two: what China will admit per person, and what the aircraft will carry that day.
Getting out of Australia, and the trip you cannot easily reverse
Australian export is straightforward by comparison with Australian import. A veterinary examination and health certificate, then endorsement by an official government veterinarian to the destination’s model, carrying the microchip number and the rabies vaccination details.
Qantas moves animals as manifested freight rather than as accompanied baggage, booked through its freight arm rather than alongside your ticket, so build that into the plan as a separate booking with its own lead time. The Chinese carriers put pets in the hold and nowhere else on international sectors, whatever you may have read about cabin pets on Chinese airlines: those products are domestic routes only.
The thing worth saying plainly, because families relocating on two or three year postings rarely think about it at the start, is that the return journey is a completely different proposition. Australia’s import regime is among the strictest in the world, and a pet coming back from China, which is not an approved country, would face the full non-approved pathway: residence in an approved country for at least 180 days before export, a rabies titre with its own 180-day clock, an import permit through BICON, a booked place at the Mickleham quarantine facility and a stay of at least ten days on arrival.
None of that affects your outbound move. It affects whether you take the dog at all, and it is better weighed now than in three years’ time.
Common questions
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Requirements on this page were checked against the authorities below. Rules change, so confirm current conditions with the relevant authority before you travel.
- IATA · International Air Transport Association, Live Animals Regulations