NEXT TRIPAutumn 2026 Canton Fair delegation — applications openReserve your seat
FAQ30 questions, answered plainly

Before you travel, read this.

Insurance and emergencies, refunds, how we expect a delegation to behave, and what happens when it does not. Written before you pay, not after.

Insurance & emergencies

Illness, accidents, and what happens when something goes seriously wrong.

Does my ChinaChallo package include travel insurance?

Not included, strongly recommended. Travel insurance is your own responsibility and is not required by the Chinese Embassy for a Pakistani ordinary-passport applicant. We strongly recommend it anyway.

A single night in a China international hospital can cost more than your entire delegation package.

What should my travel insurance actually cover?

At minimum, ask your insurer for:

  • Emergency medical treatment and hospitalisation in China — a minimum sum insured of $10,000
  • Emergency medical evacuation — $2,500
  • Accidental death — $5,000
  • Trip cancellation on medical grounds — $200

Pre-existing conditions. If you have diabetes, a cardiac history, hypertension, or anything under ongoing treatment, declare it. An undeclared condition can void the entire claim, not just the part relating to that condition.

Age limits. Travel policies reduce cover or refuse it above 65.

What happens if I fall ill or have a medical emergency during the delegation?

Tell your delegation lead immediately — do not wait to see if it passes, and do not go to a hospital alone.

Here is what happens next:

  1. Your delegation lead assesses urgency and calls emergency services if needed. In China, dial 120 for an ambulance, 110 for police, 119 for fire.
  2. We take you to, or arrange transport to, an appropriate facility.
  3. A ChinaChallo team member or interpreter stays with you. Language is the biggest practical barrier in a Chinese hospital, and you should not face it alone.
  4. We contact your emergency contact in Pakistan and keep them updated.
  5. We notify your insurer’s 24/7 assistance line, if applicable.

A hard practical point: most Chinese public hospitals require payment upfront, in cash or by local payment app, before treatment begins. Keep every receipt, prescription, discharge summary and diagnostic report — without them you have no claim. We will contact your emergency contact in Pakistan, who can transfer funds to the hospital in China with the help of our China team.

Will ChinaChallo pay my medical bills?

No. ChinaChallo does not act as an insurer and does not fund medical treatment.

What we do provide, at no extra charge: transport to a facility, an interpreter, staff accompaniment, coordination with your insurer, communication with your family, and help with the paperwork.

If we have to pay in advance on your behalf in an emergency to get treatment started, we will contact your emergency contact in Pakistan to transfer the amount with the help of our China team. We will say so at the time and put it in writing.

What happens in the event of an accident?

The response depends on where it happens.

On our transport, or at a venue we have organised — our staff take immediate charge: first aid, emergency services, hospital, insurer notification, family notification, and a written incident report as early as possible.

At the Canton Fair complex— the venue’s own safety and medical procedures take priority. Our staff support you through them, but we do not override the site’s protocol.

In your own free time, away from delegation activity — call your delegation lead on the 24/7 number the moment you can. We will still help you with everything listed above. But be clear-eyed: our ability to act quickly is much smaller when we do not know where you are. This is the practical reason behind the check-in rules in the Code of Conduct, not bureaucracy.

What happens in the event of a delegate's death overseas?

We understand this is difficult to read. We publish it because families ask, and because a company that has not thought it through in advance is not a company you should travel with.

If a delegate dies in China, ChinaChallo will:

  • Notify the family or nominated emergency contact directly and as soon as we responsibly can — not by text message
  • Report to the local Chinese authorities as required by law
  • Notify the Consulate General of Pakistan in Guangzhou, or the Pakistan Embassy in Beijing depending on location, and work under their guidance
  • Notify the insurer and open a claim
  • Coordinate with the funeral or repatriation service on documentation, permits and transport
  • Assign a named staff member as the family’s single point of contact until the matter is closed
  • Secure the delegate’s passport, belongings and business documents, and hand them to the family or the mission

On cost. Repatriation of remains from China to Pakistan is expensive — it involves local death certification, embalming, a mortuary certificate, an export permit and air cargo. This cost is met by the repatriation-of-remains benefit in the travel insurance policy. It is why we tell every delegate to check that line specifically.

Am I covered if something happens on the flight?

Airline cover is a separate thing from travel insurance, and it is narrower than most people assume.

  • The airline’s own liability for death, injury, delay and baggage is set by international convention and by the airline’s conditions of carriage, not by ChinaChallo. It is capped, and the caps are revised periodically.
  • “Airline insurance” sold at booking is usually a travel insurance product from a third-party underwriter, not the airline. Read what it covers; several such policies exclude the medical cover you actually need.
  • Baggage is compensated by the airline up to a low convention limit. Carry passports, visas, medication, samples and business documents in your cabin bag. Never check them.
  • Delays and missed connections are handled by the airline first. Whether the knock-on cost of a missed Canton Fair day is recoverable depends on your travel insurance, not on us.

ChinaChallo is not the airline and is not the insurer. Where we have booked the ticket, we will act as facilitator to help you pursue the claim and provide documentation.

Can I use my regular health insurance in Pakistan for treatment in China?

Almost certainly not. Domestic Pakistani health policies are typically limited to treatment inside Pakistan. Check the territorial limits clause with your provider in writing before you assume you are covered. If it does not say China, it does not mean China.

What medication can I bring into China?

Bring what you need for the whole trip plus a few days’ margin, in original labelled packaging, with a doctor’s prescription or letter in English listing the drug’s generic name, dosage and reason.

China restricts or prohibits import of several medicine categories that are freely available elsewhere — including some codeine-based painkillers, certain sleep aids, and stimulant medications. If you take anything in these categories, ask us at least three weeks before departure so it can be checked.

Do not carry anyone else’s medication. Do not carry unlabelled loose tablets.

Who do I call in an emergency?

You will receive a printed emergency card at the pre-departure briefing, carried on you at all times. It lists:

  • Your delegation lead’s China mobile and WeChat
  • ChinaChallo 24/7 emergency line — +86 166 9617 6695
  • ChinaChallo China office — +86 159 9283 4195
  • Your insurer’s 24/7 international assistance line and your policy number
  • Consulate General of Pakistan, Guangzhou — +86 183 1051 6712
  • Pakistan Embassy, Beijing — +86 156 5077 8300
  • Chinese emergency services — 110 police, 120 ambulance, 119 fire
  • Your hotel name and address in Chinese characters — a taxi driver cannot read the Roman alphabet

Refunds & payments

What is refundable, what is not, and how money reaches us.

What is ChinaChallo's refund policy?

Our fees are non-refundable except where your Chinese visa application is rejected. This is the core of the policy, and everything below explains how it works in practice.

We ask you to read this carefully before you pay, because the reason for the policy is straightforward: the moment your seat is confirmed, we spend money that we cannot get back — Canton Fair registration, hotel blocks, airline group allocations, invitation letter processing, and interpreter and transport bookings committed weeks in advance. Those costs are incurred whether you travel or not.

My visa was rejected. What exactly do I get back?

In the case of rejection, the PKR 30,000 initial deposit is non-refundable. The remainder is refunded to the participant within 30 days.

To claim, send us:

  • Your passport page
  • Your original payment receipt
  • Your bank details for the refund

Send these within 30 days of the rejection. We process refunds within 30 working days of receiving a complete claim, to the same account the payment came from.

Are there situations where a visa rejection is not refunded?

Yes, and we would rather you know now. The refund does not apply where the rejection results from something within your own control:

  • Submitting forged, altered or misrepresented documents
  • Giving false information on the application or at interview
  • Failing to attend a scheduled appointment or interview without notice
  • Missing our document deadlines, so the application went in late or incomplete
  • A prior immigration violation, overstay or deportation record you did not disclose to us at application
  • Withdrawing your own application
Can I get a refund if I change my mind, or something comes up at home?

No. Once your seat is confirmed and payment is made, the fee is non-refundable for cancellation on personal grounds — including business commitments, family circumstances, illness, or simply deciding not to go.

This is why we ask you to insure the trip. Trip cancellation cover from your travel insurer is the correct route for a genuine emergency that stops you travelling. We will provide whatever documentation your insurer needs to support the claim.

One thing we can offer instead of a refund. Roll your seat forward to the next delegation, once, if you cancel at least 40 days before departure. Any price difference is payable.

What if ChinaChallo cancels the delegation?

If we cancel — whether because minimum numbers are not met, or for operational reasons on our side — you choose between a full refund of everything you have paid us, or a transfer of your full payment to the next delegation.

If a delegation is cancelled or curtailed for reasons genuinely outside anyone’s control — government action, visa suspension, border closure, an epidemic, natural disaster, conflict, or the Canton Fair itself being cancelled or postponed — we will refund whatever we can recover from airlines, hotels and the fair organisers, and pass it on in full without deducting our own margin. We cannot refund costs that our suppliers keep.

What is and isn't included in the package price?

Included

  • Return airfare and airport transfers
  • Hotel on twin-sharing
  • Daily fair transport
  • Canton Fair badge and registration
  • Interpreter in working hours, for our group
  • Pre-departure briefing
  • Invitation letter and visa support
  • Chinese visa fee and service charges
  • Basic travel insurance
  • Food

Not included

  • Meals not listed above
  • Personal expenses
  • Sample purchases and their shipping
  • Single room supplement
  • Excess baggage
  • Medical insurance
  • SIM card and VPN
How and to whom do I pay?

Payments are accepted only to our given company accounts.

We never ask for payment to a personal account, to a staff member’s personal wallet, or in cash to an individual. If anyone asks you to, it is not us — stop and contact us.

You receive a numbered invoice and receipt for every payment. If you did not get one, you are not confirmed.

Code of conduct

How a delegation protects the access route it travels on.

Why does ChinaChallo have a code of conduct?

Because a delegation travels on a shared reputation.

Our ability to obtain invitation letters, secure Canton Fair access, book group visas and maintain relationships with Chinese hotels, suppliers and authorities depends on our delegations behaving well — every single time. One serious incident can close doors for hundreds of Pakistani businesspeople who had nothing to do with it, including your own next trip.

The code is not about controlling adults. It is about protecting an access route that is genuinely difficult to build and easy to lose.

What are the core expectations?

Be where you said you would be. Departure times for the fair, market visits and transfers are fixed. Buses leave on time. We will not hold thirty people for one, and there is no separate transport.

Stay reachable. Keep your phone charged and WeChat on. Respond to roll-calls and check-ins.

Tell us before you go somewhere on your own. You are an adult and free to explore in your own time. We simply need to know you have gone and roughly when you will be back — so that if something happens, we know where to start looking.

Represent yourself honestly. With suppliers, at the fair, and in meetings we have arranged. Do not misrepresent your company, your volumes, or your authority to buy.

Respect the people around you. Fellow delegates, ChinaChallo staff, interpreters, drivers, hotel staff, exhibitors. Harassment, abuse, intimidation, and unwanted attention of any kind toward anyone — particularly toward women delegates, staff and interpreters — ends your participation immediately, and action will be taken according to the authorities of the land.

Follow the rules of the place you are in. Canton Fair badge rules, exhibitor photography restrictions, factory safety requirements, hotel policies. Many exhibitors prohibit photography of their products; ask before you shoot.

Your badge is yours. Canton Fair badges are non-transferable and photo-verified. Lending one can get both people ejected and blacklisted by the fair organisers.

Obey Chinese law. Fully and without exception.

What Chinese laws should I be especially aware of?

We are not being dramatic here. These are the areas where foreign visitors most often get into serious trouble, and where the consequences are far heavier than in Pakistan.

  • Narcotics.China enforces some of the world’s most severe drug laws. Penalties for possession are harsh, and trafficking can carry the death penalty. This applies to substances that are legal or lightly policed elsewhere. Do not carry anything for anyone.
  • Immigration. Overstaying your visa is a serious offence carrying fines, detention, deportation and long re-entry bans.
  • Working on a business visa. Your visa lets you conduct business meetings and attend the fair. It does not permit you to take employment or run commercial operations on the ground.
  • Currency. Cash above the declarable threshold must be declared at customs.
  • Customs and prohibited goods. Certain items cannot be brought in or taken out. Ask us if you are unsure about samples.
  • Photography. Avoid photographing military installations, government buildings, security personnel and border facilities.
  • Political and religious activity. Public political demonstration and religious proselytising are not permitted for foreign visitors.

If you are stopped, questioned or detained by Chinese authorities for any reason, contact your delegation lead immediately and ask to contact the Consulate General of Pakistan.

Can I leave the delegation to visit family or do my own business?

Yes, in your own scheduled free time, provided you tell your delegation lead first, agree a return time, and stay contactable.

What you may not do is leave the delegation without telling anyone, fail to return to the hotel, or separate from the group with the intention of not returning to Pakistan.

What is ChinaChallo's position on absconding or overstaying?

Absolute, and worth being blunt about.

Every delegate travels on an invitation and a visa obtained on the strength of ChinaChallo’s standing with the Chinese authorities. A delegate who disappears in China or overstays their visa does three things at once: commits a serious offence against themselves, exposes their guarantor to liability, and damages the invitation pipeline for every future Pakistani delegate we serve.

If a delegate fails to return or cannot be accounted for, ChinaChallo will report the fact to the hotel, the Chinese authorities and the Pakistani mission as we are required and expected to do, and will cooperate fully with any subsequent investigation. We will also pursue the guarantor for the costs and consequences under the Delegate Agreement.

We say this plainly at the point of application, not after departure, so that anyone whose intention is anything other than a business trip can withdraw before we file the invitation.

Passports of all delegates are held by the ChinaChallo admin team for the duration of the delegation, and handed back to you on departure from China.

Are there rules about how I deal with suppliers?

Yes, and they are mostly about protecting you.

  • Negotiate on your own account and in your own name. We facilitate, interpret and advise; we do not sign on your behalf.
  • Do not make commitments you cannot honour — Chinese suppliers keep long memories and share notes.
  • Never hand cash to a supplier’s individual staff member or pay to a personal account. Pay to the verified company account, against a proforma invoice. This is the most common way Pakistani importers get defrauded.
  • Do not offer or accept improper payments to secure business. It is illegal in both countries.
  • Treat prices, terms and contacts shared inside the delegation as confidential to that delegate. Do not broker another delegate’s supplier relationship behind their back.
Do you take photos and video during the delegation?

Yes. We photograph and film delegation activities for our own marketing, social media and reporting.

If you would prefer not to appear in published material, tell us in writing before departure and we will respect it.

You are also asked not to film or photograph other delegates, staff or interpreters without their agreement, and not to publish anything filmed at a supplier’s factory or an exhibitor’s booth without that business’s permission.

Discipline & deposits

What happens when the code is broken, and what your deposit is for.

What happens if a delegate breaks the code of conduct?

We deal with almost everything informally and quietly. Most issues are a misunderstanding or a one-off, and a conversation settles them.

Where that is not enough, we escalate in steps:

  1. A private verbal word from the delegation lead.
  2. A written warning, recorded on file, with a clear statement of what has to change.
  3. Withdrawal from specific activities — factory visits, meetings, transport — while remaining in the group.
  4. Removal from the delegation. You remain responsible for your own accommodation and return travel from that point, and no part of your fee is refunded.
  5. Reporting to the relevant authority — Canton Fair organisers, hotel, or Chinese authorities — where the law requires it or where safety demands it.

Serious misconduct skips the ladder entirely. Harassment or assault, drug offences, theft, violence, document fraud, and absconding result in immediate removal without warning.

Is there a security deposit, and can I lose it?

Yes. Every delegate pays a refundable security deposit of $300 alongside the package fee.

It is returned in full, within 7 working days of the delegation’s return, to every delegate who completes the trip and returns to Pakistan with the group. Most delegates get it back and never think about it again.

It may be retained, in whole or in part, only where the Delegate Agreement says so:

  • Damage to hotel, transport or venue property attributed to you
  • Costs we incur because of your conduct — rebooking, penalties charged to us by a hotel or venue, replacement transport
  • Removal from the delegation for serious misconduct
  • Failure to return to Pakistan with the delegation

If we retain any part of it, you get a written itemised statement showing exactly what was deducted and why, with supporting invoices. We do not retain more than the actual cost.

Does ChinaChallo issue fines?

No. We are not an authority and we do not levy penalties.

What the Agreement does allow is retention of the security deposit against actual, evidenced costs, and recovery of money we genuinely have to spend because of a delegate’s conduct — a hotel damage charge billed to us, a rebooking fee, a penalty from the fair organisers. Both are cost recovery, both are itemised, and neither is a profit centre.

What costs might I be personally liable for?
  • Damage you cause to hotel rooms, vehicles, venue or factory property
  • Fines or charges levied directly on you by any authority, venue or hotel
  • The cost of your own return travel and accommodation if you are removed from the delegation
  • Your own transport if you miss scheduled group transport
  • Any legal costs arising from your own conduct
  • Costs and consequences arising from overstaying or failing to return, including those borne by your guarantor
Can I appeal a decision?

Yes. Submit it on our website within one day of the decision or deduction, setting out what you disagree with and why.

Your appeal is reviewed by a senior ChinaChallo team member who was not involved in the original decision, and you get a written response within two days.

Decisions taken during a delegation — where safety, the law or the group’s access is at stake — take effect immediately. They can be appealed afterwards, but not deferred at the time.

Can I be refused a place on future delegations?

Yes. Serious misconduct, absconding or overstaying results in permanent exclusion from ChinaChallo delegations.

We also reserve the right to decline any application without giving a reason, and to withdraw a confirmed place before departure if information comes to light that we consider a genuine risk to the delegation. In that case you are refunded in full.

Still not answered?

Ask us before you pay rather than after. Every question on this page started as one somebody asked on WhatsApp.