I Have Been Detained by Police in China. What Can I Do Myself?

Where am I in the process?

Chinese custody runs in stages:

• Summons or compelled appearance for questioning: normally up to 12 hours, or 24 hours in especially serious or complex cases.
• Criminal detention (刑事拘留): decided by the police. You must be moved to a detention center (看守所, kanshousuo) within 24 hours and questioned within 24 hours.
• Arrest (逮捕): must be approved by the procuratorate, China's prosecution authority, usually within about 37 days of detention at most. After arrest, custody usually lasts months while the case proceeds.

The weeks before the arrest decision are the most important window for seeking release on bail. See Can someone detained in China be released before trial?

1. Get a lawyer

You have the right to appoint defense counsel from your first interrogation or the first coercive measure taken against you, and during the investigation only a lawyer may act (Article 34 of the Criminal Procedure Law). If you ask for a lawyer while in custody, the police must pass on your request promptly. Name a specific lawyer or law firm if you can.

Your spouse, parents, children or full siblings can also appoint a lawyer for you, even from abroad. Consular officers have the right to arrange for your legal representation (Article 36(1)(c) of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations), and where a foreign defendant is in custody, the embassy or consulate may appoint a defense lawyer on their behalf (Article 485 of the SPC Interpretation of the Criminal Procedure Law).

Only a lawyer licensed in China can defend you. A lawyer from your home country can help your family and coordinate, but cannot act in the Chinese case. See Can a foreign lawyer defend me in a Chinese criminal case?

When your lawyer asks to visit you, the detention center must arrange the meeting promptly, and no later than 48 hours after the request, and the meeting is not monitored (Article 39). This is the one conversation in which you can speak freely about the case. Your lawyer will not be present during police questioning; Chinese law does not provide for that.

If you have no lawyer, you can ask to see a duty lawyer (值班律师), a legal aid lawyer stationed at the detention center who can give basic advice and help you apply for a change of custody (Article 36).

2. Insist on an interpreter

The police must provide interpretation for anyone who does not understand the local language (Article 9 of the Criminal Procedure Law; Article 362 of the Ministry of Public Security's procedural rules). If you understand Chinese and do not need one, the police will ask you to confirm that in writing, so do not sign such a statement unless you are fully comfortable being questioned in Chinese.

A confession taken without a required interpreter cannot be used as a basis for a judgment.

3. Contact your embassy or consulate

After a foreign suspect is detained, the provincial police must notify the embassy or consulate of the suspect's country (Article 368 of the MPS rules). When consular officers ask to visit you, the police must arrange it promptly. You can decline a visit, but only in writing (Article 370). See Can I contact my embassy or consulate if I am detained in China?

Consular officers cannot get you released or act as your lawyer, but they can check on your welfare, contact your family and help you find lawyers.

4. Answer questions carefully

China has no right to silence of the kind found in common-law systems. You are required to answer questions about the case truthfully, but you have the right to refuse to answer questions unrelated to the case (Article 120), and no one may be forced to prove their own guilt (Article 52). See Do I have the right to remain silent in China?

In practice:

• Do not guess. If you do not know or do not remember, say so.
• Do not sign anything you do not understand.
• Tell the police about any medical condition and any medication you need.
• If you are mistreated or threatened, tell your lawyer at the first meeting, with as much detail as you can remember (dates, times, who was present).

5. Check every record before signing

Each interrogation is written up as a record in Chinese. The law requires that it be shown to you, or read to you if you cannot read it, and that you can add to or correct it before signing (Article 122). For a non-Chinese speaker, this means the record should be interpreted back to you in full. If the record says something you did not say, ask for a correction, and do not sign until it is right.

6. Contact with family

Family members generally cannot visit during the investigation. Once the case is in court, a guardian or close relative can apply to the higher people's court to meet a foreign defendant, and the court may approve if this will not obstruct the trial (Article 482 of the SPC Interpretation). For foreign suspects, the MPS rules allow meetings with close relatives and correspondence during police custody with police approval (Article 370). Your lawyer and your consulate are the usual channels for messages. Family can deposit money into your account at the detention center, which you can use to buy extra food and daily items; basic meals are provided.

Legal basis (October 2026)

• Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, Articles 9, 34, 36, 39, 52, 85, 119, 120 and 122
• Provisions on Procedures for Handling Criminal Cases by Public Security Organs (2020 amendment), Articles 362 and 367 to 370
• Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Criminal Procedure Law (2021), Articles 94, 482 and 485
• Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (1963), Article 36