The aggregate expense charged against earnings to allocate the cost of intangible assets (nonphysical assets not used in production) in a systematic and rational manner to the periods expected to benefit from such assets. As a noncash expense, this element is added back to net income when calculating cash provided by or used in operations using the indirect method.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109223946&loc=d3e3602-108585

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)(2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66006027&loc=d3e16323-109275

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6388964&loc=d3e16225-109274

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

Prepaid Land Lease Payments - Additional Information (Details) - Use Rights [Member] $ in Thousands, ¥ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018 CNY (¥)
Finite Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Amortization of intangible assets	$ 249	$ 243	$ 247
Sinovac Biotech Company Ltd [Member] \| Bank of Beijing Term Loan Shangdi Facility [Member] \| Bank of Beijing [Member]
Finite Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Collateral Amount	281			¥ 1.9
Sinovac Biotech Company Ltd [Member] \| China Construction Bank Changping Facility [Member] \| China Construction Bank
Finite Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Collateral Amount	$ 2,359			¥ 16.2