China's 240-hour visa-free transit policy lets eligible travellers stay in China for up to 10 days without a visa, as long as they are on their way to a third country. It is one of the most useful — and most misunderstood — entry routes to China.
The essentials
Stay: up to 240 hours (10 days)
Eligible nationalities: 57 countries
Entry ports: 65 designated ports across 24 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities
Key condition: you must be transiting to a third country or region — a round trip back to your departure country does not qualify
Who qualifies?
You qualify if all of the following are true:
You hold an ordinary passport from one of the 57 eligible countries.
Your passport is valid for at least 3 months beyond your entry date.
You hold an onward ticket to a third country or region with a confirmed date and seat, departing within 240 hours.
You enter through one of the 65 designated ports. Your exit port may differ from your entry port — entering in Beijing and leaving from Shanghai is fine.
You stay within the permitted areas (see below).
The 57 eligible 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.
Americas (6): Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Mexico, United States.
Oceania (2): Australia, New Zealand.
Asia (9): Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar, Singapore, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam.
Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam were added on 20 August 2026, which brought the total from 55 to 57.
What you can — and cannot — do
Permitted: tourism and sightseeing, business meetings, visiting family and friends, exchange visits.
Not permitted: employment, formal study and news reporting. These require the appropriate visa obtained before you arrive, regardless of your nationality.
Where you can go
The permitted area covers 24 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. Major cities fully covered include Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Xi'an, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Nanjing, Chongqing, Kunming, Guilin, Qingdao, Harbin and Zhangjiajie.
Not covered: Xinjiang, Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Qinghai, Gansu and Jilin. If your itinerary includes these regions, the 240-hour transit policy will not work — you need a standard visa.
How the 10 days are counted
The visa-free period starts at 00:00 on the day after you arrive, not at the moment you land. A traveller arriving at 23:00 on Monday still gets the whole of Tuesday through to the following Thursday.
240-hour transit vs. 30-day visa-free: which is better?
| 240-hour transit | 30-day visa-free | |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum stay | 10 days | 30 days |
| Eligible countries | 57 | 50 |
| Onward ticket to a third country required? | Yes | No |
| Can you enter and leave from the same country? | No | Yes |
| Regional restrictions? | Yes — 24 regions | No |
If your nationality is on both lists, the 30-day visa-free route is almost always the better option: it is longer, has no third-country requirement and no regional restrictions.
Planning a 10-day trip around the 240-hour transit?
We build itineraries specifically designed to work within the transit window, including flight routing that satisfies the third-country rule and stays entirely inside the permitted regions. Tell us your dates →
Last updated: 10 September 2026. Source: National Immigration Administration of China, announcement of 20 August 2026.
