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Yuanyue Dang

China will now offer 10 days of visa-free transit for international travellers, the National Immigration Administration (NIA) announced on Tuesday.
Passport holders from 54 nations – including Australia, Japan, the United States and countries throughout Europe – can now stay up to 10 days in certain areas of mainland China when transiting via one of the country’s 60 international ports, according to the NIA.
The visa-free extension of stay, which has been open to 54 countries since November 2023, is effective immediately, the NIA said.
Eligible passport holders can obtain visa-free transit for tourism, business or visiting family members, but they will require visas for work, study or media interviews, the administration said.

The announcement by Chinese immigration authorities comes as Beijing struggles to attract foreign tourists and investment to help boost a slowing economy.
China has seen a major outflow of foreigners after three years of strict Covid-19 controls. The zero-Covid policy, which was largely lifted in December 2022, imposed severe restrictions on domestic and international travel, including a two-month lockdown in Shanghai, the country’s most international city.
Beijing has been trying to attract foreign tourists and investors since the country’s borders were reopened in January 2023. President Xi Jinping has also called for “building national strength in tourism” and increasing people-to-people exchanges, including with the US.
China’s immigration and tourism authorities have introduced several measures this year to boost inbound tourism, including easing entry and visa procedures and enhancing banking services for foreigners.
Since last December, China has announced visa-free entry for passport holders from 38 countries, including France, Germany, South Korea and Japan.
The measures have helped. China recorded more than 29 million foreigners in the first 11 months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 86 per cent. Nearly 60 per cent of those travellers entered the country without a visa, a 123 per cent increase over the same period last year.
Twenty-one more ports of entry and exit have been added, bringing the total number to 60. Under the new measures, travellers are allowed to stay in 24 provincial regions during transit, with five new regions added, including the southern island province of Hainan, the southwestern province of Guizhou, the northern province of Shanxi and the eastern provinces of Anhui and Jiangsu.
Under the new rules, visitors from 54 countries can now travel freely across 24 provincial regions for 10 days, but some provinces, such as Shanxi, Jiangxi and the southern autonomous region of Guangxi, will only allow stays in some of their cities.
Previously, visa-free transit foreigners were usually only allowed to stay in the same province or neighbouring provinces.
]The NIA stressed that transit passengers seeking to enter China visa-free should have a passport valid for more than three months and a ticket to leave China for a third country within 10 days – either by plane or ship, or by train via a border crossing with Laos in the southwestern province of Yunnan.
Round-trip tickets are not allowed as they do not qualify as “transit”.
Foreigners must also abide by Chinese law, the administration added.
Jens Eskelund, head of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, said the chamber “welcomes the expansion of China’s visa-free transit policy and believes it may facilitate additional inbound business travel”.
“It will be important that the authorities provide comprehensive guidance on how to fully benefit from this scheme, particularly clarifying the requirements for cross-provincial travel,” he added.
Zha Daojiong, a professor at Peking University’s School of International Studies, said that “easing entry requirements and procedures for non-China passport holders is a step in the right direction, as it promotes ‘seeing is believing’ among other societies about life in China today”.
“The more China is seen as another normal society – similar to others, with its own share of good and bad – the more conducive it is to smoothing over raw feelings about the country,” Zha said.
The NIA said the transit policy had been “comprehensively relaxed and improved”, but it appeared to overlap with some of China’s existing visa-free arrangements.
Passport holders from most of the eligible countries were previously allowed to enter China without a visa, such as Japan, Singapore and Australia. Travellers from those countries can also enter from ports that do not support visa-free transit, and they can stay longer, usually up to 30 days.
Travellers from any country can visit for up to 24 hours on arrival at any international airport in mainland China.
But the visa-free transit changes were underwhelming for at least one foreign traveller. “It doesn’t allow anyone to simply plan a trip to China. You must also incorporate another country in your itinerary, which most Westerners do not do,” said an American businessman, who requested anonymity.
“The majority of the world can travel to the majority of countries visa free, usually up to 90 days. If China truly wants to attract foreigners, it could do so much more,” he added.
However, according to NIA deputy director Mao Xu, the changes would “improve entry convenience … and attract more foreigners to travel, do business, visit and exchange with China”.
China will also continue to open up its immigration management, “promote a larger, broader and deeper opening-up policy, and create a market-oriented, legalised, internationalised and first-class business environment”, Mao said on Tuesday.


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Foreigners in China

China’s immigration authority has expanded visa-free transit durations to 10 days for 54 countries. Photo: Xinhua

China recorded more than 29 million foreign visitors in the first 11 months of this year, an 86 per cent increase over the same period last year. Photo: Xinhua

China adds Japan to visa-free scheme as political tensions ease

Travellers from Japan will be able to stay for up to 30 days in China without a visa from the end of this month. Photo: Shutterstock

As tensions persist between geopolitical rivals China and the US, people-to-people exchanges are seen as increasingly crucial in helping to maintain links between the two countries. Photo: China News Service/VCG via Getty Images

US President Joe Biden welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping to an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation event in California in November 2023. Photo: AFP/Getty Images/TNS

China visa free for 30 days maximum: 5 ways to get in

An immigration officer answers foreign visitors’ questions about visa-free entry permits at Beijing Capital International Airport in July. Photo: Xinhua

Foreign tourists pose for a photo at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing in July. Photo: Xinhua

Tourists at the Wuzhizhou Island tourist area in Sanya, Hainan, in February. Photo: Xinhua

Foreign visitors sample snacks at the Furong Town scenic spot in Yongshun county, Hunan province, in November. Photo: Xinhua

News

China

Diplomacy

Visa-free extension of stay, which has been open to 54 countries since November 2023, takes effect immediately


Visa-free extension of stay, which has been open to 54 countries since November 2023, takes effect immediately.


Australia

Japan

United States