Police Report for Theft

How to use this card

1. Save the image to your phone before traveling. We recommend screenshotting all 12 rescue cards and saving them to a dedicated “China Travel” album on your phone, so they’re available offline.
2. Open the image the moment you confirm your passport is gone and you’ve searched everywhere. Don’t wait — embassies need the police report before they can issue a new document.
3. Show the Chinese text (top half of the card) to the police officer at the front desk. The pinyin is there as backup if they want to read it phonetically.
4. Read the English translation to understand their questions back to you.

What the police will likely say

• “去派出所报案” (Go to the local police station to file the report) — Not every station accepts foreign-passport reports. Ask your hotel to direct you to the nearest 派出所 that handles foreign cases.
• “填这张表” (Fill out this form) — A standard report form. Use a translation app on your phone to complete the Chinese fields. Most forms ask for: name, passport number, what was stolen, when, where, and your hotel address.
• “报案单给你” (Here’s your report) — They will give you a 报警 回执 / 报警证明 (police report receipt) with a case number. Keep this — your embassy needs the original.
• “联系大使馆” (Contact your embassy) — They’ll remind you to call your embassy. Use Card #12 for that conversation.

Pro tips

• File the report within 24 hours of the loss — most embassies will not issue a replacement travel document without a same-day police report.
• Bring photocopies of your passport’s photo page and visa page — most travelers keep these in their email or cloud storage. This dramatically speeds up the report.
• Photograph the loss scene — if your bag was stolen, photograph the location, the broken lock, the CCTV camera, anything that helps the police and your insurance claim.
• Major city police stations with English support — Beijing Chaoyang Branch, Shanghai Jing’an Branch, Guangzhou Tianhe Branch, and Shenzhen Futian Branch have a foreign affairs desk.
• Screenshots work offline — make sure you have the image saved to your phone, not just bookmarked in a browser.

Related guides

• China Travel Safety Guide — what to do step by step after a theft
• China Common Scams Tourists — the most common theft patterns and how to avoid them
• China Tourist Visa Guide — re-applying for a visa if your passport is unrecoverable

When this won’t help

If the police refuse to file a report (rare) or you need immediate embassy intervention, this card alone won’t unlock the embassy door. Instead:

• Call your embassy’s 24-hour emergency line — they will tell you exactly which police station to go to and what documents they’ll need. Card #12 helps you ask a local to use their phone.
• Use your travel insurance’s emergency assistance line — they often have direct contacts with local police and can speed up the report.
• Ask your hotel manager to come with you to the station — they can translate in person and vouch for you.
• Get a Chinese-speaking friend or tour guide to call ahead — having someone explain the situation by phone to the station before you arrive makes the process dramatically smoother.