Guides · Visa-free transit
China's 240-hour visa-free transit, checked in one minute.
Every day travelers ask the same question: "Does my route qualify?" The rule is simpler than it looks once you frame it as A → mainland China → C. A is where you arrive from, C is where you go next — and they must be different. Use the checker below, then verify against official sources before you book.
· 4 min read
First: you may not need the transit policy at all
China currently runs two separate schemes and mixing them up causes most of the confusion online:
1. The 30-day unilateral visa-free list — 50 countries. Per the National Immigration Administration's official list (updated 17 February 2026, in Chinese): 35 European countries, Australia and New Zealand, 7 in Asia (Brunei, South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain) and 6 in the Americas (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Canada). The UK and Canada were both added on 17 February 2026 — if you last checked before then, check again. These passports enter mainland China directly for up to 30 days for tourism, business, family visits or transit. Round trips are fine, no third-country requirement, no port restrictions. Note the counting rule: your stay is counted from 00:00 the day after you enter, so arrival day itself is free. Most of these are in force through 31 December 2026 (Russia through 2027; Brunei open-ended).
2. The 240-hour visa-free transit. For passports not on the 30-day list but on the transit list — as of July 2026 that notably includes the United States, Mexico, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Indonesia and Ukraine — you can stay up to 240 hours if you are genuinely transiting: arriving from place A, departing to a different place C, through one of the designated ports.
Lists change (they have only been expanding). Last verified July 2026 — confirm your passport's current status with the National Immigration Administration or your nearest Chinese embassy before booking.
Route checker
This checker covers the route logic only. Entry must be through a designated 240-hour port (all major international airports qualify, plus land crossings such as the Hong Kong–Shenzhen high-speed rail), and your stay is limited to the permitted areas of the eligible provinces. The final decision always rests with the border officer.
The five questions everyone asks
Can I use two separate tickets?
Yes. The onward ticket to C does not need to be on the same booking. Keep proof of it handy — the strictest check is usually your airline at check-in, not the border.
Does a round trip qualify?
No. USA → Shanghai → USA is not a transit. A and C must be different countries or regions.
Do Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan count as C?
Yes — they count as separate regions under this policy. UK → Shanghai → Hong Kong works. So does Hong Kong → Shenzhen → Macau.
How are the 240 hours counted?
From 00:00 on the day after you arrive. Your arrival day is free; from that midnight you have 10 full days.
What does "arriving from A" mean if I have a layover?
A is the last place you were before entering mainland China — where you boarded the flight or train into China, not where your journey originally started.
Landing in Shenzhen or Guangzhou?
Ten visa-free days is plenty — if you don't lose two of them to logistics.
Payments, SIM, transport apps, bargaining at electronics markets, factory visits between Canton Fair phases — a personal host handles the friction so your 240 hours are actually yours. Transparent per-day pricing, itemized in writing before any payment.
Official sources
Verify before you book, in this order:
- The National Immigration Administration announcement that took the 240-hour transit policy to 65 entry ports across 24 provinces, effective 5 November 2025, for citizens of the 55 eligible countries — it also states the permitted-activity rules for the stay.
- The State Council's English summary of the same expansion, if you want the shorter read.
- The official arrival card portal — since 20 November 2025 you can file the China Digital Arrival Card online, up to three days before you land. The NIA has also warned about fake arrival-card sites that charge a fee; the official one is free.
- The official 30-day visa-free country list and the official transit visa-free policy page — both maintained by the National Immigration Administration (Chinese). These are the authoritative lists; third-party sites often quote inflated counts by mixing in mutual-exemption agreements.
- Your nearest Chinese embassy or consulate, and your airline's check-in desk — the airline is the party that can refuse to board you.
Guide last verified July 2026. We keep this page updated as the policy evolves; it has only been expanding since 2023.
US$9.90 starts the work and comes off anything you book with us in the next 30 days; the written plan costs nothing extra.