Foreigners can get a driver’s license in China.

Who should apply for a driver’s license in China?
Foreigners from any other country who want to drive in China must apply for a driver’s license. International driver’s licenses are not recognized in China. Licenses are valid in the Chinese mainland only. Residents from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan also need to apply for a driver’s license to drive in the mainland of China.

What are the requirements?
Licenses must be applied for in the city in which your residence permit or temporary
residence permit is registered. Once obtained the license is valid across the Chinese
mainland. The information for this article was collected from municipal authorities in several cities. There are some discrepancies with their information so if you are going to try to get
a license you should communicate with the authorities in the city where you will be living.

How to apply?
1. A written test must be taken. It consists of 100 questions taken from a question base of hundreds of questions. A score of 90 out of 100 is required to pass the test. The test is standardized across China and is available in English, Chinese, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, and Korean.
2. A road test is required for people without a foreign or international license or for people with less than three years driving experience.
 

Documents Required:

• Valid foreign driver’s license or international driver’s license. This will need to be translated into Chinese.
• Temporary residence permit.
• Passport including a valid visa with at least 3 months left before expiration.
• Three passport sized photos.
• Medical examination papers. Sometimes foreign papers may be accepted, sometimes a medical exam can be done on location and sometimes a medial exam is done at another location in the city.

Despite the official required documents there are reports of foreigners passing the exams
with few of the above requirements and by randomly selecting answers on the test. There are also shady businesses with “special connections” that charge more but give a license without requiring any tests.