Is Pregabalin legal in China?
Also known as: lyrica
- Legal status
- Pregabalin is a prescription (Rx) medicine in China and is NOT listed in the national narcotic-drug or psychotropic-substance control catalogues (NMPA/NNCC), so, unlike scheduled psychotropics, it sits outside the Criminal Law drug-trafficking tiers and is dispensed as an ordinary prescription medicine, as is gabapentin.
- Consequences if caught
- Unauthorised supply is handled as a medicines-administration matter; pregabalin is not within the scheduled substances that carry capital trafficking exposure.
- If prescribed or medical
- Dispensed as a prescription-only medicine.
- Documentation
- Bring a reasonable personal supply with a prescription or doctor's letter and declare medicines on entry.
- nmpa.gov.cn
- The power that moves this list is the catalogue and joint announcement route under the 2007 Narcotics Control Law, by which the State adds named substances, and this project's China substance dossier checked on 18 September 2026 records the class control of synthetic cannabinoid substances in force from 1 July 2021 while naming no edition of the narcotic and psychotropic catalogues themselves. No catalogue version was recorded when this cell was authored on 14 July 2026, and that does not rule out a later amendment made or commenced since.
Want to know if China changes its law on Pregabalin?
Drug-law changes, court decisions and research, once a month.
Free. We email you once to confirm. Unsubscribe with one click.
Court records
We have not yet assessed whether court records are publicly available for this jurisdiction.
Other substances confirmed in China
Same substance, other countries
Drug laws and enforcement change and vary within a country. This is not legal advice. Always confirm with China’s embassy or official drug authority before traveling; penalties can be severe, including imprisonment.
Before you travel
Verify current rules with the destination country’s official drug authority and your own country’s embassy before traveling. Find the destination’s U.S. embassy & official country guidance →
Non-U.S. travelers: check your own government’s travel advisory and embassy.
If you’re detained or arrested abroad
Contact your own country’s embassy or consulate in the destination immediately, not the destination’s authorities. U.S. citizens: contact the nearest U.S. embassy/consulate and the U.S. State Department at +1-202-501-4444 (from abroad). If a U.S. citizen is arrested or detained abroad →