China 240-Hour Visa-Free Transit Policy Guide

This answer was checked against National Immigration Administration: Transit Visa-Free Policies and NIA: Visa-Free Transit Policies. A third source, State Council: China widens 240-hour visa-free transit access, was used where the answer depends on implementation detail or traveler-facing handling. Where sources use different scope or dates, the guide follows the current official or most directly authoritative source and keeps platform or traveler-facing material as implementation context only.

The National Immigration Administration source explains two transit visa-free policies. The 24-hour policy applies at all open ports to travelers of all countries who hold valid international travel documents and confirmed connecting tickets, transit through China to a third country or region, stay in China for no more than 24 hours, and do not leave the restricted port area. If they need to leave that area, they should apply to border inspection for temporary entry permission. The 240-hour policy applies only to eligible nationals and listed ports and permits a stay of no more than 10 days within the specified area.

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

Use this as a pre-booking checklist: eligible nationality; valid international travel document; confirmed interline ticket with date and itinerary; transit to a third country or region; listed entry port; permitted stay area matched to that port; stay of no more than 10 days; and activity type limited to tourism, business, visits, or family visits unless a proper visa has been obtained.

The permitted area is tied to the entry port. Do not treat the 240-hour policy as permission for nationwide travel. Use this table before building an itinerary.

The 24-hour transit visa-free policy is separate from the 240-hour policy. It applies at all open ports to travelers of all countries who transit through China to a third country or region with valid documents and confirmed onward tickets, stay no more than 24 hours, and do not leave the restricted port area. Travelers who need to leave that area should apply to border inspection for temporary entry permission.