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Visa-Free

China Visa-Free Entry: 30 Days or 240-Hour Transit?

ByChina Travel Checklists Editorial Team

Start with the 30-day policy. If your ordinary passport is on China's 50-country unilateral list, you can visit for up to 30 days without arranging a third-country transit route. Malaysian passports have similar 30-day entry under a separate bilateral agreement.

If your passport is not on that 50-country list, the 240-hour policy may still work for passports from 57 countries, but only when mainland China sits between two different countries or regions on your ticketed journey. Check your passport first, then check the route, ports and permitted travel area.

This matcher covers the 50-country unilateral waiver, Malaysia's bilateral agreement and the 57-country transit policy, not every bilateral or regional exemption. Policy lists checked September 5, 2026.

Check policies for your passport

Choose the rule that fits your trip

30-day visa-free entry

Passport
Ordinary passport from one of 50 unilateral-waiver countries; Malaysia is covered separately.
Route
No third-country route is required. You may arrive from any country or region.
Where you can go
Enter through a sea, road or air port open to foreign nationals. The waiver itself does not impose a transit travel area.
Main documents
An ordinary passport valid for the intended stay. Carry itinerary or booking evidence that matches your reason for entry.
Stay clock
30 calendar days, counted from 00:00 on the day after entry.

240-hour visa-free transit

Passport
Ordinary passport from one of 57 countries.
Route
Country or region A → mainland China → a different country or region C.
Where you can go
Enter and leave through designated ports and remain within the permitted areas. Some participating provinces are only partly covered.
Main documents
An ordinary passport with at least three months remaining and a confirmed onward ticket within the allowed stay.
Stay clock
240 hours, counted from 00:00 on the day after entry.

Check a 240-hour transit route

The policy looks at the international country or region immediately before mainland China and the one immediately after it. Your home, citizenship and final destination later in the trip do not replace those two ticketed sectors.

Qualifies on route shape

Tokyo → Shanghai → Hong Kong

Japan and Hong Kong are different countries or regions for the transit test. The passport, ports, ticket and permitted area must still qualify.

Does not qualify

Tokyo → Shanghai → Osaka

Both international sides are Japan. Different cities or airlines do not turn a return trip into third-country transit.

  1. Confirm that your passport appears in the 57-country list below.
  2. Read your full ticket, including stops. The international sectors immediately before and after mainland China must point to different countries or regions.
  3. Check both mainland ports and every planned stop against the NIA port and permitted-area table. A province appearing in the policy does not always mean the whole province is open under this transit permission.
  4. Hold confirmed onward travel within the permitted stay and meet the entry rules for that next country or region. The temporary-entry formalities are handled at the designated Chinese port.

240-hour transit: 57 passport countries

Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam were added on 20 August 2026. These passport holders may use the policy when the route and other conditions above are met.

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, Republic of Korea, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam

30-day entry: 50 unilateral-waiver countries

Ordinary-passport holders from these countries may enter for tourism, business, family or friend visits, exchange and transit without a visa. Work, study and news reporting require the appropriate visa or prior approval.

Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Oman, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Uruguay

The current MFA notice gives Brunei no stated end date, extends Russia through 31 December 2027, and schedules the other 48 countries through 31 December 2026. The policy permits multiple entries and currently sets no total-day cap, but each visit still needs a covered purpose.

Malaysia follows a different rule

Malaysian ordinary-passport holders use the China–Malaysia bilateral agreement, not the 50-country unilateral list. The limit is 30 days per visit and 90 days in any 180-day period, and the passport must have at least six months remaining.

Official sources and policy dates

Sources and policy lists checked September 5, 2026.

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Last updated: September 5, 2026