China 240-Hour Visa-Free Transit: Complete Guide (2026)

What is China's 240-hour visa-free transit?

China's 240-hour visa-free transit policy lets eligible passport holders spend up to 10 days (240 hours) in China without a visa, provided they are transiting to a third country or region. The policy took effect on 17 December 2024, expanding the previous 72/144-hour schemes, and is administered by the National Immigration Administration (NIA). There is no fee and no advance application: you request it at the border when you land, and immigration officers issue a temporary entry permit on the spot.

First, check whether you even need it

Before planning around the transit rules, check China's broader visa-free schemes — many travelers no longer need the transit route at all:

• 30-day unilateral visa-free entry currently applies to citizens of 50 countries for business, tourism, family visits, exchanges and transit, valid through 31 December 2026. The United Kingdom and Canada were added on 17 February 2026. If your passport is on this list (most of the EU, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and more), you can simply enter visa-free for up to 30 days — no onward ticket to a third country required.
• Bilateral visa-waiver agreements (separate from the unilateral list, with no 2026 expiry) cover countries such as Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Georgia, the UAE and Qatar.

The 240-hour transit policy therefore matters most for nationalities that are on the 55-country transit list but not on the 30-day lists — most notably the United States and Mexico, plus countries such as Indonesia, Czechia, Ukraine and Belarus (compare the transit list against the unilateral visa-free list).

Who qualifies: the 55-country list

Citizens of these 55 countries qualify for 240-hour visa-free transit (Indonesia was added on 12 June 2025):

• Europe (40): Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom
• Americas (6): United States, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico
• Oceania (2): Australia, New Zealand
• Asia (7): Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, Qatar, Singapore, South Korea, United Arab Emirates

The core conditions

• Onward ticket to a third country or region. You must hold a connecting ticket with a confirmed date and seat, departing China within 240 hours (NIA). Standby or unconfirmed bookings are not accepted in practice.
• Your destination must differ from where you came from. Flying, say, London → Shanghai → London does not qualify as transit. The official wording is transit to a “third country or region” — under common practice Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR and Taiwan are treated as third regions (e.g. London → Shanghai → Hong Kong works). For borderline itineraries, confirm with the NIA 12367 service hotline before booking.
• Passport validity of at least 3 months at the time of entry (Shanghai Municipal Government FAQ).
• Clean immigration record. Entry can be refused if your passport carries a Chinese visa-refusal stamp or if you have records of illegal entry, stay or work in China within the past 5 years (Shanghai FAQ).

Where you can enter and travel

You can enter through 65 designated ports across 24 provincial-level regions — all major hubs including Beijing, Shanghai (Pudong and Hongqiao), Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Chengdu. Five Guangdong ports (including Hengqin, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge port and the West Kowloon high-speed rail station) were added on 5 November 2025. Within the permitted areas of those 24 regions you may travel across provincial borders — for example land in Shanghai, take the train to Beijing, and fly out of Guangzhou. The full port list is published on the NIA policy page.

How the 240 hours are counted

The clock starts at 00:00 on the day after you enter. If you land at 06:00 on 1 July, your 240 hours run from 00:00 on 2 July, so you must depart by 23:59 on 11 July (Shanghai Municipal Government FAQ). In effect you get up to 10 full days plus the remainder of your arrival day.

Step by step at the border

1. Fill in the arrival card. Since 20 November 2025 you can pre-fill it online via the NIA website, the 12367 app, or WeChat/Alipay mini-programs (Beijing Municipal Government).
2. Go to the visa-free transit counter (marked at major airports) with your passport and onward ticket.
3. Answer basic questions about your itinerary; officers verify your onward booking.
4. Receive a temporary entry permit stamped or affixed in your passport stating your permitted stay and area (NIA).

If you stay anywhere other than a hotel (a friend's home, a rental), you or your host must register your accommodation with the local police station within 24 hours of arrival (Beijing Foreign Affairs Office).

What you can and cannot do

Permitted activities are tourism, business meetings, exchanges and visiting family or friends. Work, study and journalism are not covered — these require the appropriate visa obtained in advance (NIA).

The 24-hour rule: everyone else

Separately, travelers of all nationalities transiting to a third country or region within 24 hours are visa-exempt at all of China's open ports, provided they hold a confirmed onward ticket. In principle you stay within the port's restricted zone unless border inspection grants a temporary entry permit (NIA). Since 5 November 2025, ten additional airports (including Chongqing, Kunming, Qingdao and Wuhan) allow direct airside transit without border-inspection formalities (NIA).

Policy timeline

• 17 Dec 2024 — 240-hour policy launched: 54 countries, 60 ports, 24 regions (Chinese Embassy in the US)
• 12 Jun 2025 — Indonesia added → 55 countries (NIA)
• 5 Nov 2025 — 5 new Guangdong ports → 65 ports; airside-transit airports expanded (NIA)
• 10 Nov 2025 — Sweden added to the 30-day unilateral list; scheme extended to 31 Dec 2026 (gov.cn)
• 20 Nov 2025 — Online arrival-card pre-filling launched (Beijing Municipal Government)
• 17 Feb 2026 — UK and Canada added to the 30-day unilateral list → 50 countries (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Official sources

• NIA — Visa-free transit policy (240-hour & 24-hour)
• NIA — Unilateral visa-free policy (50 countries)
• Shanghai Municipal Government — 240-hour visa-free transit portal
• Beijing Foreign Affairs Office — visa-free transit Q&A