You cannot drive with an International Driver's Permit in mainland China; China has not signed the convention which created IDPs. You need a Chinese license to drive in China.
12-piont System on Chinese Driving License
If you have got a Chinese license, you should know the "12-point system"– a system of controlling traffic violations. Once you violate the traffic regulations, your points will be unfortunately deducted.
Violations like ignoring the red or yellow light, and exceeding the speed limit, you will get three points deducted; driving without seatbelt, you will get one or two points deducted. If you get stopped for drunk driving, or sometimes intoxicated, you will lose six points and may even lose all the 12 points.
What's more, you will also pay a fine and your license will be suspended for three months at least. You could also be put in jail for several days. If you lose all your points only in one year, then you will have to take the class to relearn all the rules and pass them again.
Tips for the Chinese driving license
Guests from abroad may drive Chinese vehicles following a quick hour-long traffic law briefing. Your license, however, will be time-limited.
PRC laws say that foreign residents can have driver's licences and that an IDP can not be converted to a local licence, possibly with an additional examination. Actually getting a license may be complicated. The particular complications seem to vary from place to place and over time. Some people have been asked to take a written test in Chinese. Others get a bilingual test form, or are allowed to bring a translator. Sometimes you can be excused the actual driving test if you have a foreign license, sometimes not. Some foreigners report that Chinese friends suggested a small gift to the local officials and it helped greatly; others have been told by their Chinese friends that such a move would be foolish and dangerous.
In most places, private tutoring is allowed given common sense and reasonable care, that means in practice that at least one person in the car must have a valid license, but not neccessarily the driver.
In China, a Chinese driving licence is issued if you can achieve a pass rate of 90% in the computerized theory test of one hundred (mostly) multiple choice questions. Tests are available in Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish & so on. If you do not pass at 90%, you can do a second test without paying any further fee.
At least in some cities electric scooters are legally treated as bicycles. You do need to register the vehicle, but only with a bicycle license which is cheaper and easier than a motorcycle license. You do not need a driver's license to ride it. There may be restrictions in where you can ride it, e.g. not in the main traffic lanes.
