Packing rule
In short
Since 28 June 2025 a power bank cannot fly on a domestic flight inside mainland China if it has no CCC mark, if the mark is unreadable, or if the model or batch has been recalled. It also cannot go in checked baggage at any size, and above 160Wh it cannot be carried at all. CCC is a mainland certification, so a unit bought abroad usually does not carry it. Check the casing at home.
Open the packing checklistApplies to
Any itinerary with a flight between two mainland China airports: multi-city trips, connecting flights after an international arrival, and internal legs booked separately.
Check before you rely on it
The watt-hour bands, the two-unit cap and the checked-baggage ban come from the 2015 notice in the table below; the CCC and recall rules come from the 2025 one. Neither names a recalled model, and neither says how an airline grants the 100-160Wh approval, so ask your carrier and check your manufacturer's recall notices.
Information checked:
The device you packed to survive a long travel day is the one most likely to be taken at a domestic checkpoint. Two minutes with the casing at home settles it.
Check the casing
One rule, three ways to fail it. In force since 2025-06-28 on domestic flights.
| What you find on the unit | At a domestic checkpoint | Why |
|---|---|---|
| No CCC mark on the casing | Not allowed on the flight | Most power banks bought outside mainland China are in this row. CCC is a mainland certification, so a unit from a shop at home usually has no mark to find. |
| A CCC mark you cannot read | Not allowed on the flight | The notice covers unclear markings as well as missing ones. A worn, scratched or half-peeled label is the same problem as no label. |
| A recalled model or batch | Not allowed on the flight | Several manufacturers recalled batches over battery-cell safety risks, and the market regulator revoked or suspended CCC certification for several makers. |
| A clear CCC mark, not from a recalled model or batch | Outside this prohibition, still inside the size rules | The 2025 notice bans the three cases above and sets no size or quantity limit of its own — the regulator issued it, in its own words, based on existing policies to tighten them. Those existing limits are the 2015 notice in the table below: nothing in checked baggage, nothing above 160Wh, and no more than two units between 100Wh and 160Wh with the airline's approval. |
Source for the whole table: CAAC Bans Passengers from Carrying Power Banks Without CCC Markings or from Recalled Models on Domestic Flights (Civil Aviation Administration of China, page dated 2025-07-09, read 2026-07-25).
Item by item · read October 6, 2026
The size limits are not in the 2025 announcement. They are in a short notice the Civil Aviation Administration of China signed in 2015 and still publishes, which reiterates rules already in force: five numbered prohibitions covering checked baggage, rated energy, quantity and use in the air. Each row prints the item as published, so you can check it on the same page we did.
| What it means for your bag | The item as published | Notice and reference |
|---|---|---|
| A power bank may not go in checked baggage, at any size Item one is absolute: no watt-hour threshold attached, no approval route, no exception for a small unit. Every power bank you travel with belongs in the cabin bag. This is the single sentence most worth knowing before the suitcase closes, because the mistake is irreversible once the bag is on the belt. | 严禁在托运行李中携带充电宝。 | Item 1 (第一项) 《关于重申民航旅客携带“充电宝”乘机规定的公告》 Announcement reiterating the rules for passengers carrying power banks on civil aviation flights Full text, read 2026-10-06 |
| Above 160Wh it cannot be carried at all The limit is written in 额定能量 — rated energy, in watt-hours, the figure printed on the casing next to the capacity. Above 160Wh there is no approval route and no band: the notice prohibits carriage outright. Large battery stations and camera-crew packs are the units that cross this line, not a phone charger. | 严禁携带额定能量超过160Wh的充电宝 | Item 2 (第二项), first clause 《关于重申民航旅客携带“充电宝”乘机规定的公告》 Announcement reiterating the rules for passengers carrying power banks on civil aviation flights Full text, read 2026-10-06 |
| Between 100Wh and 160Wh: the airline has to approve it, and two is the cap Above 100Wh but not above 160Wh, carriage needs the airline's approval, and no more than two units. The two-unit cap belongs to this band only — it is not a general limit on how many power banks a passenger may carry. The notice sets out no form, channel or deadline for asking, so the request goes to the carrier. | 携带额定能量超过100Wh但不超过160Wh的充电宝，必须经航空公司批准且不得超过两个。 | Item 2 (第二项), second clause 《关于重申民航旅客携带“充电宝”乘机规定的公告》 Announcement reiterating the rules for passengers carrying power banks on civil aviation flights Full text, read 2026-10-06 |
| Using it during the flight is prohibited A use ban, not just a carriage ban, and the rule most often broken innocently by someone topping up a phone at cruise altitude. Charge on the ground, at a gate or terminal charging point, and keep the unit stowed once the door closes. | 严禁在飞行过程中使用充电宝。 | Item 4 (第四项) 《关于重申民航旅客携带“充电宝”乘机规定的公告》 Announcement reiterating the rules for passengers carrying power banks on civil aviation flights Full text, read 2026-10-06 |
| An unreadable label was already a refusal in 2015 Unclear markings were prohibited a decade before the CCC rule arrived, which is why the two notices read as one lineage rather than two regimes. It is also the practical reason the watt-hour bands bite: a unit whose rating has worn off cannot be assessed at a checkpoint whatever its actual capacity, so it does not travel. | 严禁携带标识不清的充电宝。 | Item 3 (第三项) 《关于重申民航旅客携带“充电宝”乘机规定的公告》 Announcement reiterating the rules for passengers carrying power banks on civil aviation flights Full text, read 2026-10-06 |
| Personal use only Carriage has to be for your own use. A bag of units being moved for resale or for a group is outside what the notice permits, however small each one is. | 严禁非个人自用目的携带充电宝。 | Item 5 (第五项) 《关于重申民航旅客携带“充电宝”乘机规定的公告》 Announcement reiterating the rules for passengers carrying power banks on civil aviation flights Full text, read 2026-10-06 |
| The police enforce it, and it binds the crew as well as you Breaches are handled by the public security organs under national law according to the circumstances, and the notice states that the same rules apply to crew members. Both halves are worth knowing: this is a safety rule rather than an airline customer-service policy, which is why arguing it at the checkpoint does not work. No fine, detention period or named offence is published — the notice says only that breaches are dealt with seriously. | 对于违反上述规定者，公安机关将根据情节，依照国家有关法律、法规严肃处理。上述规定同时适用于机组人员。 | Closing paragraph (结尾段) 《关于重申民航旅客携带“充电宝”乘机规定的公告》 Announcement reiterating the rules for passengers carrying power banks on civil aviation flights Full text, read 2026-10-06 |
| Why a 2015 notice is still the live statement of the sizes The notice does not create these limits, it reiterates limits already in force — which is why nothing later needs to re-list them and why the sizes are not findable in the 2025 announcement. It is still served from the administration's 通知公告 column with no repeal or expiry marker on the page. | 为确保航空运输安全，现将旅客携带充电宝乘机的规定重申如下： | Opening paragraph (开篇段) 《关于重申民航旅客携带“充电宝”乘机规定的公告》 Announcement reiterating the rules for passengers carrying power banks on civil aviation flights Full text, read 2026-10-06 |
| The 2025 CCC rule was added on top of this list, not in place of it The regulator describes the June 2025 tightening as built on existing policies. It never mentions or amends the earlier notice, and what it prohibits is about identity and provenance — missing or unclear CCC markings, recalled models and batches — not about size or number. So a traveller has to satisfy both: the sizes and the hold ban from the earlier notice, the markings and recall rules from the 2025 one. | In response, based on existing policies, CAAC has decided to tighten the control measures in line with the internationally recognized Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air. | Rationale paragraph CAAC Bans Passengers from Carrying Power Banks Without CCC Markings or from Recalled Models on Domestic Flights Full text, read 2026-10-06 |
The published facts
Each line links the announcement and the day we read it. Sources read 2026-07-25.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China issued an urgent notice prohibiting passengers from carrying power banks without CCC markings, with unclear CCC markings, or from recalled models or batches on domestic flights, starting 28 June 2025.
CAAC Bans Passengers from Carrying Power Banks Without CCC Markings or from Recalled Models on Domestic Flights (Civil Aviation Administration of China, page dated 2025-07-09, read 2026-07-25)
The measure is stated for domestic flights inside mainland China. The announcement says nothing about inbound international flights, so check your own carrier's battery rules for the flight in.
CAAC Bans Passengers from Carrying Power Banks Without CCC Markings or from Recalled Models on Domestic Flights (Civil Aviation Administration of China, page dated 2025-07-09, read 2026-07-25)
Incidents of fire or smoke from power banks and other lithium battery products carried by passengers rose in 2025. Several leading manufacturers recalled batches over battery-cell safety risks.
CAAC Bans Passengers from Carrying Power Banks Without CCC Markings or from Recalled Models on Domestic Flights (Civil Aviation Administration of China, page dated 2025-07-09, read 2026-07-25)
The State Administration for Market Regulation revoked or suspended the CCC certifications of several power bank and battery cell manufacturers, which is why a mark that was valid last year may not be now.
CAAC Bans Passengers from Carrying Power Banks Without CCC Markings or from Recalled Models on Domestic Flights (Civil Aviation Administration of China, page dated 2025-07-09, read 2026-07-25)
The regulator states the tightening is in line with the Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air.
CAAC Bans Passengers from Carrying Power Banks Without CCC Markings or from Recalled Models on Domestic Flights (Civil Aviation Administration of China, page dated 2025-07-09, read 2026-07-25)
Airports must post reminders and run announcements at prominent places including security checkpoints and check-in counters, security screening must step up inspection of power banks, and airlines and airports should put extra staff at checkpoints to guide and explain.
CAAC Bans Passengers from Carrying Power Banks Without CCC Markings or from Recalled Models on Domestic Flights (Civil Aviation Administration of China, page dated 2025-07-09, read 2026-07-25)
Designated areas where passengers can voluntarily discard or temporarily store power banks should be set up as appropriate. Nothing published says whether a stored unit can be collected later, or what storage costs.
CAAC Bans Passengers from Carrying Power Banks Without CCC Markings or from Recalled Models on Domestic Flights (Civil Aviation Administration of China, page dated 2025-07-09, read 2026-07-25)
Airports should speed up installation and maintenance of charging facilities in terminal buildings so passengers can charge before departure and after arrival.
CAAC Bans Passengers from Carrying Power Banks Without CCC Markings or from Recalled Models on Domestic Flights (Civil Aviation Administration of China, page dated 2025-07-09, read 2026-07-25)
At the checkpoint
The unit is not flying with you. The next decision is about power, not about the argument.
Before you pack
In short
Short answers on the mark, checked baggage, the watt-hour bands, using it in the air, the checkpoint, and the legs these rules do not cover.
Only if it carries a clear CCC mark and is not from a recalled model or batch. Since 28 June 2025 the Civil Aviation Administration of China has prohibited units with no CCC mark, with an unclear mark, or from recalled models and batches on domestic flights.
No, whatever size it is. Item one of the Civil Aviation Administration of China's notice on power banks prohibits carrying one in checked baggage, with no watt-hour threshold and no approval route attached. It travels in the cabin bag or it does not travel.
Above 160Wh rated energy, carriage is prohibited outright. Above 100Wh but not above 160Wh, you need the airline's approval and may carry no more than two units. The notice is written in watt-hours, the figure on the casing, and gives no mAh conversion; below 100Wh it adds no further condition, though it is a list of prohibitions rather than an express permission.
No. The same notice separately prohibits using a power bank during the flight, which is a use ban rather than a carriage ban. Charge at a gate or terminal charging point before boarding and keep the unit stowed in the air.
Usually not. CCC is a mainland China certification, so a unit bought elsewhere generally does not carry it. Look at the casing while you are packing rather than at the checkpoint.
It does not fly with you. Airports are directed to set up designated areas where passengers can voluntarily discard or temporarily store power banks, and to add staff at checkpoints to explain the rule.
Charge to full before the flight and use terminal charging points. The regulator has told airports to expand charging facilities in terminal buildings so passengers can charge before departure and after arrival.
The announcement addresses domestic flights within mainland China. It says nothing about inbound international flights, so check the rules of the airline flying you in for that leg.
This notice is aviation only. Rail security screening runs on its own published list, and no city metro operator publishes an English restricted-articles list, so do not carry the flight rule across to either.
Not published
The watt-hour bands are published, and they are in the table above. These are the things the regulator does not publish, so this page does not state them either.
Where the power bank check belongs: with data, payment, and the transfer plan, before the bag is packed.
Open pageBattery planning matters more when maps, wallet, and translation all live on one device.
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