Official Information Guide · Based on National Immigration Administration announcements · Last reviewed: September 16, 2026 · Reading time: ~11 min
⚠️ Before you book — rules change without notice. This guide reflects official sources checked on September 16, 2026. Verify current requirements before purchasing non-refundable travel. Report a correction → · Full source list in [Sources](#sources).
Short answer
If you hold an ordinary passport from one of the 57 listed countries, you may transit through China without a visa for up to 240 hours — but only when you are genuinely passing through: you must enter through one of 65 designated ports and hold a confirmed interline ticket to a third country or region with a departure date within 240 hours. You’ll be admitted for tourism, business visits or family visits inside designated stay areas — not for work, study or news reporting, which require prior approval and a visa.
This is a transit policy. It is different from the 24-hour transit rule, the Hainan 30-day visa-free entry, and the separate unilateral visa-free entry scheme. Don’t mix them up — [the comparison table below](#four-rules) explains each.
How the 240-hour rule works
Under the policy administered by the National Immigration Administration (NIA), eligible transit travelers may enter China visa-free when all of these are true (NIA policy interpretation, August 20, 2026):
- Nationality — you hold an ordinary passport of one of the 57 qualifying countries (list below).
- You are actually transiting — you hold interline passenger tickets with confirmed dates and itineraries bound for a third country or region, departing within 240 hours of arrival.
- Designated entry port — you arrive through one of the 65 ports of entry open to the policy, located in 24 provincial-level regions.
- Stay within designated areas — your stay must remain within the permitted zones announced for the policy (the NIA’s official interpretation page lists them; check your cities there before planning intercity legs).
- Permitted activities only — travel, business activities, visits and family reunions. Work, study or news reporting are not covered and still require prior approvals and appropriate visas.
The official texts state the limit two ways: the announcements say “no more than 240 hours”; the NIA’s interpretation summarizes it as “a stay of no more than 10 days.” The precise way your permitted stay is calculated and stamped is determined by immigration inspection authorities at entry — this guide deliberately does not translate 240 hours into “10 calendar days” or describe a start-of-count method, because the official texts we checked do not define one in those terms. If your plans depend on the boundary, ask before you fly ([how, below](#verify)).
Which countries qualify (57, as of August 20, 2026)
The complete current list, exactly as published by the NIA:
| Region | Qualifying countries |
|---|---|
| Europe (40) | Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom |
| North America (2) | Canada, United States |
| South America (4) | Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico |
| Oceania (2) | Australia, New Zealand |
| Asia (9) | Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar, Singapore, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam |
Recent additions with official effective dates: Indonesia from June 12, 2025 (NIA); Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam from August 20, 2026 (NIA Notice No. 4 of 2026).
One list, one date. Eligibility lists change. Every row above is sourced from the NIA’s consolidated interpretation dated August 20, 2026 — not from older 54- or 55-country versions that still circulate in third-party guides. If a site tells you your country qualifies but can’t point to the current NIA text, treat it as outdated.
Four different “visa-free China” rules — do not mix them up
This is where most confusion (and most denied boarding) starts. These are separate legal tracks with separate conditions:
| Policy | Who it covers | What it is for | Key condition we can source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 240-hour visa-free transit (this guide) | 57 countries | Transit through China to a third country/region | Confirmed interline third-country onward ticket; designated ports; designated stay areas |
| 24-hour visa-free transit | Nationals of all countries | International transit at ports of entry | Stay inside designated restricted areas; leaving the restricted area requires a temporary entry permit; needs a confirmed connecting ticket (including train tickets) |
| Hainan visa-free entry (30 days) | 61 countries (expanded Aug 20, 2026) | Entry to Hainan Province | A separate province-specific scheme — its own rules apply; we do not cover them in this guide |
| Unilateral visa-free entry | 40+ countries, extended to Dec 31, 2026 | Direct short visits (not transit) | No third-country ticket required — it’s a different instrument entirely; country list maintained separately and covered in our dedicated guide |
A traveler’s nationality can qualify under one track and not the others — some European countries are on both the 240-hour transit list and the unilateral entry list; others appear only once. Never assume a policy you read about applies to your passport and route unless it names both.
What counts as a “third country” route
The requirement, in the official wording: interline tickets “bound for a third country or region” with confirmed dates, departing within 240 hours.
Concretely:
- London → Shanghai → Tokyo — Japan is a third country relative to your origin. This is the textbook qualifying pattern.
- Singapore → Guangzhou → Bangkok — same pattern.
- Paris → Beijing → Paris (returning home) — the published requirement is written as onward travel to a third country or region, and a return to your origin country does not match that wording on its face. We are not going further than the sources here: the NIA texts we checked do not explicitly address round-trip itineraries, so don’t let anyone — including us — tell you it “definitely doesn’t work” or “usually works fine.” If your plan is A→China→A, verify through official channels before booking ([section below](#verify)).
“Region” matters: travel onward to Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan after mainland entry is a third-region leg for these purposes — a commonly used qualifying route that surprises first-time planners reading only “country.”
Who is NOT eligible
You’re outside this policy if any of these apply:
- Your passport isn’t on the 57-country list — diplomatic/official passports also aren’t covered by “ordinary passport” wording.
- You aren’t really transiting — arriving without a confirmed third-country/region onward ticket with a departure date inside 240 hours.
- Your route returns to your country of departure — see the wording note above; it doesn’t match the published condition, and no one should promise you otherwise.
- You enter through a non-designated port — only the 65 listed ports of entry are covered.
- Your plan leaves the designated stay areas, or exceeds the permitted stay.
- You’re coming to work, study, or do news reporting — these activities require prior approval and the appropriate visa.
- You meant one of the other policies — the 24-hour rule, Hainan’s 30 days and unilateral entry are different instruments with different conditions.
Ports and permitted stay areas
- 65 ports of entry in 24 provincial-level regions are open to 240-hour transits, including ports in Beijing and Shanghai (NIA Notice No. 4 of 2026). The count rose from 60 to 65 with effect from November 5, 2025, adding ports including Guangzhou, Zhuhai’s Hengqin and Zhongshan (State Council/Xinhua, November 4, 2025).
- Not every international airport qualifies, and eligible areas within each region are designated — the authoritative list, airport by airport and zone by zone, lives on the NIA’s interpretation page (section II, “Eligible Ports and Permitted Stay Areas”), linked in Sources. Check your exact arrival and onward ports there — this guide intentionally doesn’t reproduce a 65-item list that can go stale.
Can you use it for tourism?
Yes — with a transit at its core. The NIA wording: travelers “may stay in China without applying for a visa within the permitted areas for activities like travel activities, business activities, visits, family reunions.” In plain terms: a stopover sightseeing week inside the permitted zones is what the policy is for. What it is not: a work placement, an internship, a reporting assignment, or a study trip — those need visas.
Before you book: a five-step verification sequence
- Check your passport against the 57-country list on the NIA page (Sources #1).
- Check your arrival AND departure ports against the designated ports list (Sources #1, section II).
- Book interline tickets to a third country/region with confirmed dates inside 240 hours — keep the full itinerary document.
- Confirm with your airline before purchasing non-refundable fares. Airlines check entry rules through their own system (Timatic) and make the boarding call. Traveler reports document cases where paper eligibility and gate decisions diverged — the honest answer is that the airline’s check is a real risk step, not a formality.
- Ask the authority directly when in doubt: the NIA runs the official immigration services hotline 12367 (also an app; see Sources #4).
FAQ
Can I enter China without a visa? Under this policy, only if you’re transiting to a third country/region through a designated port with a confirmed onward ticket, on a listed passport. The other visa-free tracks (unilateral entry, Hainan) exist separately with their own conditions.
Which nationalities qualify? The 57 countries listed above, as published by the NIA on August 20, 2026. Check Sources before relying on any third-party list.
Can I stay for 10 days? Official texts frame the cap as “no more than 240 hours” (announcements) / “a stay of no more than 10 days” (interpretation). Your permitted stay is decided at inspection — don’t plan against the boundary.
Do I need a visa if I fly back to my home country? The published condition requires onward travel to a third country or region; a return to your origin doesn’t match that wording, and the sources don’t explicitly address it. Verify before booking — don’t accept guarantees from blogs.
Do I need to travel to a third country? Yes — that’s the core transit condition: confirmed interline ticket, dated, departing within 240 hours.
Can I enter through any airport? No. Only the 65 designated ports of entry.
Can I visit Beijing / Shanghai / other cities? Beijing and Shanghai have eligible ports; whether a specific onward leg or city stays inside permitted areas is what the NIA’s designated-areas list (Sources #1, section II) governs. Check it before planning multi-city routes; moving outside permitted areas is a different situation with its own formalities.
Can I leave China before the 240 hours are up? The limit is a maximum, not a required duration — earlier onward departure on your ticketed third-country leg is within the itinerary the policy describes.
What happens if my itinerary changes? The conditions attach to your ticketed route. A change that removes the confirmed third-country onward leg puts you outside the policy as written. Contact the airline and the NIA hotline (12367) before relying on a changed plan.
What if my airline says I need a visa? Ask them to re-check their Timatic entry against your full itinerary documents (interline ticket + onward third-country flight). Border officers apply the same official rules. Traveler-reported conflicts between documents and gate decisions exist — which is exactly why this guide tells you to resolve doubt before buying non-refundable tickets, and not to trust any website’s assurance over the airline in front of you.
Sources
Checked by the GoChinaMap editorial team; official titles and dates preserved.
- National Immigration Administration — “Visa-Free Transit Policies (Policy Interpretation)”, en.nia.gov.cn, interpretation page dated August 20, 2026. (57-country list; 65 ports / 24 provincial-level regions; 240h/”no more than 10 days”; permitted activities; 24-hour rule for all countries.) — https://en.nia.gov.cn/n147418/n147463/c183412/content.html · Checked September 16, 2026
- NIA Notice No. 4 of 2026 (Kyrgyzstan & Vietnam; Hainan 59→61; interline-ticket wording), en.nia.gov.cn, effective August 20, 2026. — https://en.nia.gov.cn/n147418/n147468/c217849/content.html · Checked September 16, 2026
- NIA — “China Extends 240-hour Visa-Free Transit Policy Coverage to 55 Countries with New Addition of Indonesia”, en.nia.gov.cn, June 13, 2025 (effective June 12, 2025). — https://en.nia.gov.cn/n147413/c183100/content.html · Checked September 16, 2026
- State Council of China / Xinhua (English) — “China widens visa-free access in latest opening-up move”, english.www.gov.cn, November 4, 2025 (ports 60→65 effective Nov 5, 2025; unilateral visa exemption 40+ countries extended to Dec 31, 2026). — https://english.www.gov.cn/news/202511/04/content_WS69094ae0c6d00ca5f9a07472.html · Checked September 16, 2026
- NIA — electronic arrival card & official channels (“12367”), en.nia.gov.cn, December 5, 2025 (referenced for verification tools; detail in our First Arrival guide). — https://en.nia.gov.cn/n147418/n147463/c191530/content.html · Checked September 16, 2026
Snapshot archives of every source (cleaned full text, fetched 2026-09-16): internal file `GoChinaMap-Official-Source-Archive.md` + `verification/evidence/`.
Related guides
- Before You Go — the full preparation sequence (hub page in production — text reference only until it is live)
- First Time Arriving in China: airport to city, step by step (in this week’s batch — will link once live)
- Do You Need a Chinese Phone Number? (later in the schedule)
- 📋 Free China Travel Checklist
Found an error?
We date every claim and re-check this page monthly because visa policy changes. Report a correction here — include the official announcement if you have it. We’ll credit you publicly on this page once fixed.
This is an Official Information Guide: rules compiled from National Immigration Administration and State Council publications. No first-hand travel testing is claimed or implied.