Business · 8 min read
What to Prepare Before a China Business Trip
The trip that goes smoothly is the one planned in the weeks before takeoff. Visas, payments, connectivity and a short list of people to meet—handled in advance, they turn a scramble into a strategy.
Documents first
Begin with the paperwork, because it sets the date. A business visa or the 240-hour transit option covers most buyer trips; both want a passport with margin beyond your stay and, for the invite-based route, a supplier letter and their business licence copy. Sort this first, because everything else keys off the dates it returns.
Money and apps
Configure Alipay or WeChat Pay with an international card before you fly—the single most useful habit of modern China travel, and far easier to set up at home than in a taxi queue. Carry a little cash as a fallback, download an offline translation app and your maps, and decide in advance how you will reach email and files, since some services familiar at home are limited and planning beats surprise.
- Business visa or 240-hour transit; passport with margin to spare
- Alipay or WeChat Pay linked to an international card, set up early
- Translation app and offline maps downloaded
- A shortlist of suppliers to meet, ranked before arrival
The week before
Confirm the factory slots, book the interpreter, and send your product brief so the floor can be staged. Sort a local SIM or eSIM for arrival, check the weather for the cities you will stand in, and leave the first day lightly scheduled—arrival is not the day to negotiate.
On arrival
Collect your SIM, keep your passport on you, and protect the first day as a buffer. The trip earns its return in the meetings that follow; the preparation is simply the quiet work that lets those meetings go well.
MoodGoing turns the pre-trip checklist into a done deal—visas, payments, interpreters and a routed itinerary—so you arrive to strategy, not scramble.
Prepare your China business trip →