Jurjen said:Maybe send a letter in advance that the passport has been requested, but that chinees authorities are working slow, as soon as the deadline comes too close.
In China, Beijing, Inland passport renew only takes 7 business the max as long as your passport will be expaired with in 6 month.
If you send with urgent request along with your documents when you apply renew, it only takes 48 hours. ofc, there will be a "additional cost", but it worth to pay for that if situation is very urgent.
Hope this helps. however, i dont suggest you indicate "chinees authorities are working slow` in the letter you are going to send to CIC, it may coz more trouble if they find out it is not the `true`reason.
Also, apply visitor visa in Beijing is 12 business days max. usually only take 5 business days if you pick up at Beijing
Hope it helps.