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🇨🇳 Business visa guide

China Business Visa from Pakistan: The M Visa and the Invitation Letter

China's M business visa from Pakistan: what the invitation letter must contain, TE and verification letters, Gerry's visa centre, timelines and returns.

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Last checked against official sources on 25 September 2026

QUICK ANSWER

How much does a Chinese business visa cost from Pakistan, and how long does it take?

There is no visa fee: the Chinese Embassy exempts Pakistani ordinary passport holders from all Chinese visa fees, though the visa centre charges its own service fee. The embassy usually processes an M visa in 4 working days after it receives your passport, so with the invitation letter ready, allow 2–4 weeks before travel.

Checked on the official sites on 13 October 2026. Fees and times change, so confirm them on the linked page before you pay. Visa centre charges and any consultant's fee are extra.

Visa fee
None
Pakistani ordinary passports are exempt; the visa centre's service fee is separate
Embassy of China in Pakistan ↗
Processing time
4 working days
usual embassy time after it receives the passport
Embassy of China in Pakistan ↗

At a glance

What you are applying for

China's business visa is the M visa, issued for commercial and trade activities: supplier visits, factory inspections, negotiations and trade fairs. It is a category of its own, separate from the L visa for tourists, and the embassy lists a purpose that does not match the visa type among its reasons for refusal.

Everything hangs on the invitation. The Chinese Embassy in Pakistan sets out what an invitation letter must contain, down to the inviting company's circular official seal, and a fake or deficient invitation is the first reason it gives for returning M visa applications. Get the letter right before anything else.

Most refusals come down to one of four

  1. A complete invitation
  2. A genuine inviting company
  3. Real proof of funds
  4. The M category
Shanghai skyline
China · Business visa
Visa
M visa, for commercial and trade activities
Where you apply
Online, then at Gerry's Chinese Visa Application Service Center in Islamabad, Lahore or Karachi
Invitation
From the Chinese company, or a Canton Fair or CIIE invitation
Processing
Generally four working days once the embassy has your passport; no urgent service
Visa fee
None for Pakistani ordinary passports; the visa centre charges a service fee
Fingerprints
Not taken for short-term visas until 31 December 2026

Is this the right guide?

Who it is for

Applying on the wrong visa is one of the quickest ways to a refusal, so read both lists before anything else.

You’re in the right place if you are

  • A trader buying from Chinese suppliers

    Traders and importers buying from Chinese suppliers, including regular trips to Guangzhou and Yiwu.

  • Visiting the Canton Fair or the CIIE

    Visitors to the Canton Fair and the China International Import Expo, whose own invitations are accepted.

  • A manager visiting partners or factories

    Managers visiting Chinese partners, factories or joint-venture sites.

  • A frequent visitor to China

    Frequent visitors who have been to China more than three times since 1 January 2016, who need no TE or verification letter.

Wrong visa — take this route instead

Document checklist

Documents you will need

The base list for this visa. Your own checklist is built around your case — a salaried applicant and a business owner do not submit the same file.

0 / 10ready in your file

Tick as you gather — saved on this device.

Get my checklist on WhatsApp

Everyone

From your Chinese host

If you are a government employee

Step by step · with timings

How to apply, and how long it takes

In the order it happens. Each stage waits on the one before it, so the date you start decides the date you finish. Ranges, not promises — the mission owns the clock.

START TO FINISH2–4 weeksbefore travel
  1. First

    Confirm it is an M visa

    Commercial and trade activity is M. Tourism is L, study X and work Z. Choose the category that matches the invitation before anything else.

  2. 1–2 weeks

    Get the invitation

    Ask the Chinese company for an ordinary invitation letter with every element the embassy lists, stamped with its circular official seal and signed by its legal representative. If it can obtain a TE or verification letter, you will not need the bank statement.

  3. 2–5 working days

    Apply online

    Since 30 June 2025 the form and documents are submitted online at bio.visaforchina.cn, choosing the embassy or consulate that covers where you live. The visa centre and the embassy check the upload and return files with visible gaps for correction.

  4. Hand in your passport

    After the “Online Visa Approved” email, take your passport, the Visa Application Certificate and your originals to Gerry's centre. Fingerprints are not taken for short-term visas until 31 December 2026.

  5. 4 working days

    Decision and collection

    The embassy generally needs four working days after it receives your passport and offers no urgent service. Collect the visa on the date on your pick-up form and check the entries, validity and stay at the counter before you leave.

Rather have it handled?Meetings, conferences and trade delegations — filed on a verifiable invitation.Our Business Visa service

Money

What it costs

The official figures are in the quick answer at the top, as checked on 13 October 2026. They change without notice, so each line here says what a cost depends on and where the current figure is published.

  • No visa fee

    No embassy fee

    The Chinese Embassy charges Pakistani ordinary passport holders no visa fee.

    FIGUREThe embassy
  • Paid with the application

    The visa centre's fee

    Gerry's Chinese Visa Application Service Center charges its own service fee; the embassy says the fee is the centre's, not the embassy's, and the centre gives the current figure.

    FIGUREGerry's centre
  • Who pays

    Stated in the invitation

    The invitation must say who pays for the trip — you or the Chinese company — and your other documents should agree with it.

Where the current rules and figures are published

LAST CHECKED 25 SEP 2026

This is general guidance. Rules change, sometimes without notice, and your case will have specifics this page cannot know about. Check anything decisive on the official pages, or send us your situation and we will tell you where you actually stand.

Read before you apply

Why China business visa applications are refused

The grounds that come up most on files from Pakistan. Most of them can be dealt with before you submit.

  • A fake invitation or letter

    A fake invitation, TE or verification letter — the embassy verifies them.

  • An invitation missing elements

    An invitation missing elements: arrival and departure dates, the legal representative's signature, or a proper circular seal.

  • A company that does not check out

    An inviting company whose name on the form differs from its business licence, or whose phone number cannot be reached.

  • A contact person as the inviter

    A contact person entered as the inviter instead of the company.

  • Fake or thin proof of funds

    Fake or insufficient proof of funds.

  • Details or a photo that do not match

    Passport details on the form that differ from the passport, or a photo too blurry to verify.

  • A purpose outside the M category

    A stated purpose that does not match the M category.

  • Already been refused?

    Send us the refusal letter before you do anything else. It states the grounds, and they decide whether applying again is worth it or would just cost you the fee a second time.

    Send the letter

Start here

Ask us about your case

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Straight answers

China business visa questions

What people ask us before they apply.

Ask us something else

Your name, gender, date of birth and passport number; the purpose of the visit, your arrival and departure dates, the places you will go, your relationship with the company and who pays; and the company's full name, phone number, address, official seal, the signature of its legal representative or the inviter, and the date. The seal must be the company's registered circular seal.

RANKED · PK → CN

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