As original reported by traveldocs on March 25th 2015 (see below) the Chinese government now offers Tourist and Business visas valid for up to 10 years.
We are finding that most applicants do receive visas valid for the full 10 years however the visa officer in each consulate has the right to issue a visa with a lesser validity.
Although only required when applying in Los Angeles we recommend including copies of previous chinese visas issue to you if possible to help in the decision making process. Unfortunately traveldocs has no say in the outcome of the decision by the chinese embassy or consulates when deciding the validity issued to you.
March 25th
The Chinese government announced November 11th 2014 that visas for US citizens will be issued for a 10 year validity for Tourist and Business travel good for multiple entries. Five year visas will be issued for Student travel for study in China. Visas for travel to China used to be valid either 6 months or 1-2 years in validity. This change came about after the APEC meeting in China on November 10th. The visa change for US citizens and Chinese citizens traveling into the US is supposed to foster more travel and commerce between the two superpowers.
Travel Documents Systems specializes in processing this new 10 year Chinese visa, we are finding the issuance to be routine at this time.