Pet Transport from China to the USA

China Southern is the practical answer out of the mainland. It flies Guangzhou to Los Angeles five times a week and Guangzhou to New York JFK once a week, and both airports hold a CDC-registered animal care facility, which turns out to be the other binding constraint on this route. Beyond that, a third-country carrier routing into one of the six facility airports, or straight air cargo.

China Southern’s published limits: small animals as checked baggage, one per cage, 32kg maximum, cage no larger than 90 x 60 x 66cm, application made at booking and at least 72 hours before departure, and some flights capped at three animals in total. Nothing pregnant and nothing under eight weeks.

China Eastern is reported to have made the same US dog suspension as Air China on the same date, but that could not be confirmed on the airline’s own site, so treat it as unconfirmed and ask before you plan around it.

One thing to ignore entirely: the headlines about Chinese carriers now allowing pets in the cabin. China Southern launched cabin pets on Guangzhou to Shanghai Hongqiao in late 2024 and has expanded it widely, Hainan offers it from dozens of airports, and China Eastern sells an adjacent seat for pets up to 18kg. Every one of those products is domestic. None of them applies to a flight to America.

Cats, meanwhile, are a different move altogether. The CDC has no import requirements for cats, so a cat leaving Shanghai faces the Chinese export formalities and nothing else on the American side.

China sits on the CDC’s high-risk dog rabies list, entered as “China (excluding Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan)”. The carve-out is about residence, not departure airport: the question is where the dog has been in the previous six months, so a mainland dog does not become low-risk by connecting through Hong Kong.

High risk means the full pathway. A free CDC Dog Import Form receipt. A microchip implanted before the rabies vaccination, in that order, because a vaccination given first does not count. A dog at least six months old. A Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and Microchip endorsed by an official government vet, which expires 30 days after signature. A rabies titre of at least 0.5 IU/ml. And a booked reservation at a CDC-registered animal care facility, which is required whether or not the titre passes.

Here is the one place China is genuinely better off than most high-risk origins: it has eight CDC-approved serology laboratories, in the Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Changchun and Jilin catchments, among them the Technical Centre for Animal, Plant and Food Inspection and Quarantine of Shanghai Customs and South China Agricultural University. Owners in most high-risk countries courier blood halfway around the world and wait. Chinese owners do not. The CDC accepts results only from laboratories on its own list, so check the current list before the blood is drawn.

Two dates govern the titre. The draw must be at least 30 days after the first valid rabies vaccination, and at least 28 days before the dog enters the United States. Check the second one before you buy a ticket.

CDC is not the only American agency involved. USDA APHIS lists China as a screwworm-affected region, so a dog also needs an official government veterinary certificate based on an inspection carried out within five days before shipment. Of the common US-bound origins, China is one of the few carrying both the CDC high-risk burden and the APHIS screwworm certificate at once.

China is also not on the APHIS foot-and-mouth-free list, which sounds worse than it is. Nothing needs documenting. The dog’s fur and bedding must be free of excessive dirt, hay or straw, it should be bathed on arrival, and it should be kept away from livestock for five days.

A foreign-vaccinated dog from a high-risk country has to arrive by air at the airport where its reserved CDC-registered facility is located. Not a land border, not Alaska or Hawaii, not a US territory. Seven facilities operate across six airports: Atlanta, Los Angeles (two), Miami, New York JFK, Philadelphia and Washington Dulles.

Put that beside the airline position and the shape of the move is clear. China Southern into Los Angeles or JFK works. A third-country carrier that lands at one of the six works. Air cargo works. Air China does not, for dogs, by its own suspension.

If you are an American family posted to China and the dog left the United States with you, there is a shortcut worth knowing: a dog holding a valid USDA-endorsed, US-issued rabies certificate skips the titre and the facility entirely and can enter at any port. It is the single most useful fact on this page for that group of owners, and it is why keeping the original US paperwork alive matters.

Chinese export practice is run by customs rather than a national pet agency, and the detail differs by city. The shape is consistent: declare to your local customs office, book a clinical inspection, and collect an Animal Health Certificate issued to the destination country’s requirements. The inspection itself covers mental condition, movement, coat, breathing, nose moisture, mucous membrane colour and freedom from parasites.

Dogs and cats over three months are expected to have been vaccinated at a clinic recognised by the local authority and to hold the rabies immunity certificate, then attend a designated animal hospital for a health check and deworming before the customs declaration. Customs formalities generally sit inside the fortnight before departure, with the certificate typically obtained seven to ten days out.

The list of designated hospitals is held locally and changes, so confirm it with your own city’s customs office on the 12360 hotline rather than working from a guide written for a different city.