China Daily Article: "Rules eased for foreign tourists on road trips"

Rule changes for foreigners driving into/through China. (nothing to do with foreigners on Chinese DLs in china)

relevant section
"Public security bureaus and tourism administrations at all levels are no longer issuing approval documents for international tourists' self-driving trips in China. Organizations should not require these documents to issue driving permits for international travel," the notice said.

According to the notice, all international tourists' driving trips must be arranged by a certain number of tourism agencies with approval licenses. Agencies must arrange tour guides to follow the entire trip. No individual trip is allowed."
Based on the article, "eases" probably means more consistent. Seems to suggest getting a temp DL without Chinese license should be simpler but makes explicit that foreigners driving into/through china can't travel without a guide.

Ed