The number before you need it
In short
Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119, and traffic police 122 for a road accident — two official sources, the UK FCDO and the Australian Embassy, publish this same set. On English: no opened official source promises these three-digit lines answer English, so treat them as Chinese-first. For guaranteed English, the National Immigration Administration hotline 12367 answers 24/7 in English, and so does your own embassy.
See all recovery guidesApplies to
Any foreign visitor who wants the emergency numbers saved before the trip, and the honest answer on which line a non-Chinese speaker can actually reach.
Check before you rely on it
12367 is an immigration service hotline, not an emergency dispatch line. For a crime, fire, medical crisis or crash in progress, you still dial the three-digit numbers; 12367 and your embassy are for reaching English-language help around them.
Information checked:
Save four three-digit numbers now, and one English-speaking line. The site’s old /contact note listed three of them and skipped 122 — the number for the accident you are most likely to be caught in.
The four to save
The FCDO 'getting help' page and the Australian Embassy publish the identical set. 122 is the one most single-line notes leave out.
| Dial | For | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| 110 | Police | The national police number, for a crime, a theft or an immediate threat. Both the FCDO and the Australian Embassy list it as 110. |
| 120 | Ambulance | For a medical emergency. Listed as 120 by both the FCDO 'getting help' page and the Australian Embassy. |
| 119 | Fire | For a fire, and in many places the rescue service. Listed as 119 by both sources. |
| 122 | Traffic police | For a road or traffic accident. The FCDO lists it as Traffic Police; the Australian Embassy labels it 'Traffic Accident Reports'. This is the number the site's one-line /contact list was missing. |
Source: UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office — Foreign travel advice: China — Getting help (read July 25, 2026)
Source: Australian Embassy, Beijing (Consular section) — Emergency Services in China (read July 25, 2026)
The honest answer
No opened official source promises the three-digit lines answer English.
Neither the FCDO page nor the embassy page says 110, 120, 119 or 122 will understand English. Plan for that: keep a translation app to hand, know your address in Chinese, or ask a Chinese speaker nearby to place the call. Do not assume the operator switches to English because you do.
Where English does exist
The National Immigration Administration hotline 12367 provides round-the-clock support in Chinese, English, Russian, Japanese and Korean, so a non-Chinese speaker can reach a human. It is an immigration service line rather than an emergency dispatch line — but it is the confirmed official English-capable channel, alongside your own embassy or consulate.
Beyond the phone, 12367 can be reached through the NIA English site’s ‘12367 Online’ portal, the ‘移民局12367’ app and its Alipay/WeChat mini-programs, or by email at 12367@nia.gov.cn.
Source: Shanghai Municipal People's Government English portal (National Immigration Administration 12367) — A guide to using immigration service hotline 12367 (source dated 2025-05-08; read July 25, 2026)
The published facts
Each fact links the official source and the day we read it. Sources read 2026-07-25.
The FCDO 'getting help' page for China lists the emergency telephone numbers as Ambulance 120, Fire 119, Police 110 and Traffic Police 122. It also lists a Maritime Search and Rescue Centre on 12395.
Source: UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office — Foreign travel advice: China — Getting help (read July 25, 2026)
The Australian Embassy in Beijing publishes the identical set — Police 110, Traffic Accident Reports 122, Fire 119, Ambulance 120 — which corroborates the numbers and, in plain English, confirms that 122 is the line for a traffic accident.
Source: Australian Embassy, Beijing (Consular section) — Emergency Services in China (read July 25, 2026)
Neither the FCDO page nor the embassy page states that any of the three-digit lines answers in English. The FCDO offers only to help find English-speaking lawyers, translators and interpreters — a non-emergency service, not a guarantee that 110 or 120 will understand you.
Source: UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office — Foreign travel advice: China — Getting help (read July 25, 2026)
The National Immigration Administration hotline 12367 provides 24/7 multilingual support in Chinese, English, Russian, Japanese and Korean, so an English-speaking caller can reach a human. It is the immigration service line, not a three-digit emergency number, but it is the confirmed official English-capable channel.
Source: Shanghai Municipal People's Government English portal (National Immigration Administration 12367) — A guide to using immigration service hotline 12367 (source dated 2025-05-08; read July 25, 2026)
The same guide says 12367 combines an AI-powered response with manual (human) service, and can also be reached online through the NIA English site's '12367 Online' portal, the '移民局12367' app and its Alipay/WeChat mini-programs, or by email at 12367@nia.gov.cn.
Source dated 2025-05-08
Source: Shanghai Municipal People's Government English portal (National Immigration Administration 12367) — A guide to using immigration service hotline 12367 (source dated 2025-05-08; read July 25, 2026)
In short
The what-do-I-dial question, the will-they-speak-English question, and the one about who does.
Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119, and traffic police 122 for a road accident. Two official sources — the UK FCDO and the Australian Embassy — publish this same set. The FCDO also lists a Maritime Search and Rescue Centre on 12395.
No opened official source says they do. Treat the three-digit lines as Chinese-first: have a translation app ready, or ask a Chinese speaker to place the call. For guaranteed English, the answer below points you to the NIA 12367 hotline and your own embassy.
Yes — the National Immigration Administration hotline 12367 provides 24/7 support in Chinese, English, Russian, Japanese and Korean. It is an immigration service line rather than a 999-style emergency line, but it is the confirmed official channel where a non-Chinese speaker can reach a human in English.
122, the traffic police. The Australian Embassy labels it 'Traffic Accident Reports' and the FCDO lists it as Traffic Police. If anyone is injured, call 120 for an ambulance as well.
Your own embassy or consulate is the other English-language route. The FCDO, for example, can help British nationals find English-speaking lawyers, translators and interpreters. Save your embassy's consular contact before you travel, alongside the four three-digit numbers.
Not confirmed
The English-availability claims that float around the web could not be sourced from a page we opened, so they are printed here rather than asserted.
Dial 110, report at the local station, and get the crime report your insurer needs before it pays.
Open the guideFinding care, the international clinics, and what a foreign visitor pays up front.
Open pageThe device most of these calls depend on — freezing the wallet and what survives the handset.
Open pageNext move
Read enough to make the decision smaller, then open the checklist, search a specific question, choose a setup tool, or share the page with the person planning with you.
Use the checklist when the question has shifted from research to preparation.
Search by the actual problem: Alipay, eSIM, transit visa, first transfer, vegetarian food, or a city name.
Open recommendations when the task is clear enough for a short list to be useful.