Power Banks on China Flights: The 3C Rule, Explained

What the rule actually says

Of everything in your bag, the power bank is the item most likely to be taken off you in China. Not at customs, and not on arrival. At the security lane for a domestic flight, often a connection you booked months ago without ever thinking of it as a separate flight.

Since 28 June 2025, China’s Civil Aviation Administration has banned three kinds of power bank from domestic flights. The first is a power bank with no 3C mark. The second is one whose 3C mark is unclear, faded or damaged. The third is a model or batch that has been recalled. That is the whole rule. It is short, it is enforced, and it catches almost every power bank carried by an international traveler.

The background explains the severity. Lithium cells were catching fire in cabins at a rising rate through 2025, several large brands had recalled batches over cell defects, and the market regulator had suspended or revoked 3C certification from a number of manufacturers. The aviation regulator described the change as bringing hand luggage into line with international dangerous goods standards, which is worth keeping in mind: this is not a tourism policy, and it is not going away.

If your itinerary includes a flight between two Chinese cities, read the rest of this. If it does not, the rule still matters to you in one specific way, and that way is the subject of the third section.

What 3C is, and why your power bank probably fails

3C is short for China Compulsory Certification. You will also see it written CCC, and on the device itself it usually appears as an oval containing three interlocking letter Cs. It is China’s mandatory product safety mark, the local counterpart to Europe’s CE.

For power banks, 3C has been compulsory on anything sold in China since August 2024. That date is the reason this rule bites travelers so hard. A power bank bought in Shanghai last year carries the mark. A power bank bought in Sydney, Toronto or Berlin almost certainly does not, even when it was assembled in China for export. Certification follows the market the product is sold into, not the factory it came out of.

So the honest summary is that this is not a rule about dangerous power banks. It is a rule about documentation, and the documentation is printed on the object.

How to read the mark

Turn the power bank over and look at the printing on the body. You are looking for three things, and all three have to be legible.

The first is the 3C or CCC symbol. It has to be printed or engraved on the device, not on the retail box, and not on a peel-off sticker that came away two trips ago. The second is the rated energy in watt-hours, written as Wh. The third is the model number. A power bank whose markings have worn smooth fails for the same reason a missing one does.

Two details catch people out. The mark has to be on the device, so keeping the box at home, or having a photo of the certificate on your phone, does not make the power bank compliant. And the recall list is real: a batch that has been withdrawn keeps its 3C mark, so a mark alone is not the end of the check if you bought something obscure.

The trap is the connection, not the flight

Here is the part that catches travelers who did their homework.

The 3C requirement is a domestic flight rule. Fly from London to Shanghai, or from Los Angeles to Beijing, and it does not apply. You can carry the power bank you have always carried. This has produced a lot of confident and wrong advice online, along the lines of “the rule is only for domestic flights, so you are fine.”

You are fine until your itinerary includes a domestic leg. Then you are not. Beijing to Xi’an, Shanghai to Chengdu, Guangzhou to Guilin: any of these is a domestic flight, and the security lane applies the 3C check. What surprises people is the connection. If you fly into a Chinese hub and then take a second flight to your actual destination, you clear security again in China, and that second screening is a domestic screening. The power bank that was legal on the long-haul flight is not legal on the short one.

This catches a specific kind of trip. The one where you land in Beijing, spend two days there, and then fly to Zhangjiajie or Kunming. Nothing about that feels like a domestic flight when you book it at home. At the airport it is exactly that, and our guide to booking domestic flights in China covers the practical side of those legs.

The limits that were already there

The 3C rule gets the attention because it is new and because it is absolute. But it sits on top of an older set of limits that still apply, and one of them is stricter than most travelers expect.

Power banks must travel in the cabin. Never in checked baggage. This has been true for years and it is not negotiable, because a fire in the hold cannot be reached by anyone.

Energy is capped. A power bank rated at 100Wh or less, which is roughly 27,000mAh, needs no approval at all. Between 100Wh and 160Wh you need the airline’s agreement and you are limited to two per passenger. Above 160Wh, the answer is no. A power bank with no energy rating printed on it, or one where the rating has rubbed off, is treated as a refusal as well.

Watt-hours without the maths

Most power banks sold outside China advertise milliamp-hours, not watt-hours, which is why the 100Wh line feels abstract. The conversion is voltage multiplied by amp-hours. For the usual 3.7V cell, a 20,000mAh power bank comes to 74Wh, and a 27,000mAh one lands just under 100Wh. If the label lists several output voltages, use the cell voltage for the energy figure, because that is what the airline will do.

Once you are on board, the rules tighten again. You cannot use a power bank to charge your phone in flight, and you cannot charge the power bank itself from a seat socket. If yours has a power switch, it stays off for the duration. International guidance tightened on this through 2026 and now also asks passengers to keep power banks out of the overhead bins and within reach, on the reasoning that a fire you notice early is a fire that can be put out.

What happens at the security lane

Your power bank goes through the X-ray, the officer picks it out, and you have a decision to make in about ninety seconds.

In practice, most airports offer three ways out. Someone travelling with you can take it away. The airport can courier it to an address in China, which is useful if you are ending the trip somewhere a parcel can reach you. Or it goes into short-term storage and you collect it on the way back through. Beijing Capital holds items free for seven days, after which they are disposed of. Rules and fees differ by airport and by how much time you have left in the country.

What does not happen, in the overwhelming majority of cases, is negotiation. The officer is not assessing whether your power bank looks safe. They are checking for a mark. No mark means no power bank, and the queue behind you is long.

What the officer is checking

The check takes a few seconds and it is visual. The officer looks at the body of the device for the oval 3C mark and for a legible watt-hour rating. Brand, price, age, and whether the thing has flown with you a dozen times before are all irrelevant. This is why an expensive power bank from a European brand fails while a cheap one bought in a Chinese convenience store passes, and it is the single most counterintuitive thing about the rule.

What to do instead

Three options, roughly in order of how much hassle they involve.

Buy one after you land

The simplest fix is to buy a compliant power bank once you are in China. 3C-marked power banks are cheap and everywhere: electronics chains, convenience stores, supermarkets, the airport itself, and the online platforms. Expect to pay somewhere between 80 and 200 yuan for a 10,000 to 20,000mAh unit from a mainstream domestic brand.

Buy it early in the trip if your domestic flight is early. The one place you cannot buy a compliant power bank is the security lane.

Rent one by the hour

China solved this problem for its own residents long before it became a problem for visitors, and the solution is on every other street corner: shared power bank cabinets. They sit in metro stations, convenience stores, restaurants, malls and airport terminals. You scan a QR code, a unit pops out, and you return it to any cabinet on the same network when you are done. Pricing runs by the hour with a daily cap, billed through Alipay or WeChat Pay.

For a traveler with a domestic flight and no compliant power bank, this is the neat answer. You never own the thing, so there is nothing to confiscate. If paying by phone is the part you are unsure about, our guide to mobile payments in China covers getting Alipay or WeChat Pay working on an international card, and our digital survival guide covers the rest of the setup.

If your whole trip is by train

This is where the rule stops applying, and it is worth stating plainly because the internet has muddled the two.

China Railway does not check for 3C. The rail rules come from the railway regulator rather than the aviation one, and they ask for clear markings on the power bank and a rated energy of no more than 100Wh per unit. No certification requirement, no brand requirement, and roughly 27,000mAh as the ceiling. A power bank that fails Chinese airport security will usually sail through a railway station.

That makes the train a genuine workaround rather than a consolation prize. On a route like Beijing to Xi’an, or Shanghai into the Huangshan hills, it is often the better trip anyway. Our high-speed rail guide covers booking, boarding and the station traps.

What changed in 2026

Two changes landed this year, and neither of them alters what you carry.

From 1 March 2026, newly certified power banks must carry a traceability QR code alongside the 3C mark, so that a buyer can scan it and check the certificate behind it. Existing stock has until 1 March 2027 to comply. The part that matters at an airport: boarding checks do not require the QR code. A clear 3C mark is still the only thing the security lane is looking for.

The second change is a new mandatory national standard for power bank safety, published in April 2026 and taking effect in April 2027. It raises the engineering bar for new products. It does not retroactively invalidate power banks that already hold 3C certification, and it does not change the security check either. If you have read somewhere that “3C is being scrapped”, that is a misreading of the QR code transition.

The two-minute check before you fly

Do this the night before any domestic flight in China.

Take the power bank out of your bag and read the body. Oval mark with three Cs, printed on the device. Watt-hour rating legible. Model number visible. If all three are there, you are fine. If any one is missing or rubbed away, you are not, and you have a night to do something about it.

Then check your itinerary for domestic legs, including connections. Look at the flight numbers rather than the route on the booking screen. A trip that reads as one journey from home can contain two Chinese domestic sectors, and the second one is the one that matters.

After that, decide. Buy a compliant unit in China, rent from a cabinet, carry the power bank on the train instead, or leave it at home. What you should not do is arrive at the security lane hoping the officer will not look. They will, and it costs you the power bank and twenty minutes.

If packing in general is on your list, our China packing guide covers the rest of the kit, and our notes on the mistakes first-timers make cover the other surprises that are cheaper to read about than to discover at a gate.

Frequently asked questions

Can I bring my normal power bank to China?

Yes, on the flight in. The 3C rule applies to domestic flights inside China, not to international flights arriving or leaving. Your own power bank is fine for the long-haul leg. It becomes a problem only if your trip includes a flight between two Chinese cities.

Does the 3C rule apply to connecting flights?

Yes, and this is the most common way people lose a power bank. If you land at a Chinese hub and fly on to another Chinese city, you clear security again, and that screening is a domestic one. The rule applies to the second flight even though the first was international.

What happens if my power bank is taken at security?

Usually one of three things. A companion can take it away, the airport can courier it to a Chinese address, or it goes into short-term storage for collection later. Beijing Capital holds items free for seven days. There is no appeal process and no discretion at the lane.

How many power banks can I take on a domestic flight in China?

A power bank rated up to 100Wh, about 27,000mAh, needs no approval. Between 100Wh and 160Wh you need the airline’s agreement and are limited to two per passenger. Above 160Wh, or with no legible rating, carriage is refused.

Do I need a 3C power bank for trains in China?

No. China Railway checks that the markings are clear and that each unit is rated at 100Wh or less. It does not require 3C certification, so a power bank that fails airport security will normally pass at a railway station.

Can I buy a compliant power bank in China?

Yes, easily. 3C-marked power banks are sold in electronics shops, convenience stores, supermarkets and airports, typically from around 80 yuan for a 10,000mAh unit. Buy one early in the trip if you have a domestic flight booked.