China's Visa-free Policies: Avoiding Common Mistakes Go back »

2024-08-01 | All chapters

China has resumed and expanded several visa-free policies in the past year, but some of them are confusing and difficult to make use of without a good understanding of their requirements. This overview of visa-free policies (including visa-free entry, 24-hour/144-hour/72-hour visa-free transit, and visa-free entry to Hainan) that are relevant to business travel helps to clear up some of the confusion, but travellers should still confirm the latest regulations through official sources and check with their airline before travel.

Visa-free Entry

In total, passport holders from 39 countries have regular visa-free access to China, including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg and Poland in the EU. Non-EU states with visa-free access include Switzerland, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Purposes of travel：

• for business, tourism, family visit or transit purposes √
• for work, study, or journalism purposes ×

The length of stay permitted varies from 15 to 90 days depending on the traveller’s nationality. Currently, all the EU member states with visa-free access are given 15 days, including the day of entry.

Travellers with visa-free access to China do not need to make use of the 24/72/144-hour transit visa exemptions and can instead rely on regular visa free entry, even when making trips that would have been eligible for other visa exemptions.

24-hour visa-free transit policy

All ports of entry or exit*

Foreign nationals from all countries

Visa-free conditions:

• Hold a valid international travel document (usually a passport).
• Have a confirmed connecting ticket for transit via China by fight, ship, or train to third countries or regions.
• Period of stay in China must not exceed 24 hours.
• Travellers who plan to leave the transit area of their port of entry must apply for temporary entry permission upon arrival. This is not guaranteed but is likely to be granted for overnight stays or itineraries with different ports of entry and exit (i.e. when the traveller flies into one airport and out of another).

In theory, this policy lets travelers go anywhere within China (where foreign nationals are regularly permitted to travel) for 24 hours, however permission to leave the transit area of a checkpoint is at the discretion of immigration authorities.

*According to some airlines, Fuzhou (FOC), Huangshan (TXN), Mudanjiang (MDG) and Urumqi (URC) are not included. Additionally, there are reports of travelers of some nationalities and those with shorter connection times being denied entry permits to leave the checkpoint area.

144-hour/ 72-hour visa-free transit policy

54 eligible countries：40 are European countries.

Duration of stay: While the general conditions for these policies are the same, the area and length of stay varies from city to city.

144-hour schemes:

72-hour schemes

Visa-free conditions:

• A valid international travel document (usually a passport) with a validity of no less than three months; no record of previous refusal of entry to China and no records of illegal entry, illegal residence, or illegal employment within the last five years.
• Confirmed tickets for transit to third countries or regions within 144 hours of arrival. The ports of entry and exit must each be one of the approved ports of entry or exit from the same permitted stay area (as listed above). Both the arrival and departure tickets must directly connect between China and different third countries or regions. No domestic connections outside of the permitted travel area are permitted. While not a specific requirement, passengers would benefit from printing their official ticket confirmation in (in English) before travelling.
• A completed arrival card for foreign nationals. Note that the arrival card required for visa-free transit may be different than the one distributed by airlines inflight. It may only be available upon arrival in China. Passengers using the visa free transit schemes should look for special visa-free transit application desks upon arrival, instead of proceeding directly to the “foreigner” immigration queue.
• Stay within the prescribed area for a period not exceeding 144 hours starting from 0:00 on the day following the day of entry.
• Travellers can engage in short-term activities such as tourism, business, family visits, etc. Immigration officials may ask to see evidence that a traveller intends to engage in these activities during their stay, such as hotel bookings or information about business engagements.

Special cases and common mistakes for the 144/72-hour schemes:

Ineligible flight connections

To be considered a transit passenger, one must arrive and depart on direct flights from different countries or regions. The origin of the arrival flight and the destination of the departing flight are the only factors considered by immigration authorities when making the determination of what is transit.

Sample routes:

London to Beijing (non-stop) and Beijing to Singapore (non-stop). This itinerary is eligible.

Brussels to Beijing (non-stop) and Beijing to Paris (non-stop). This itinerary is eligible, as each country in the Schengen area is treated separately.

Berlin to Beijing (non-stop) and Beijing to Frankfurt (non-stop). This itinerary is ineligible, as the passenger arrives in China from Germany and leaves China bound for Germany.

London to Beijing (non-stop) and Beijing to Singapore with a stop in Guangzhou (booked on a through ticket). This is ineligible as the passenger will leave the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area by taking a domestic flight from Beijing to Guangzhou and will exit China at Guangzhou, which is not included in the Beijing 144-hour scheme.

London to Beijing with a stop in Tokyo and Beijing to Singapore with a stop in Osaka (all booked on the same ticket, with airside layovers in Tokyo and Osaka). This is ineligible as the passenger arrives in China from Japan and departs China bound for Japan. If one of the stops was in South Korea or Hong Kong instead, the trip would be eligible.

Ineligible rail connections

While both Beijing and Shanghai include a railway station in their 144-hour transit schemes, these stations can only be used for the scheme if the exit or entry occurs at a checkpoint in that railway station.

This was possible by taking Z trains between Hong Kong’s Hung Hom Station and Beijing West Railway Station and Shanghai Railway Station. However, these trains have not been in service since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Currently, only highspeed G and D trains are available. These trains run to Hong Kong West Kowloon Station, which has mainland customs and immigration facilities in-house. The trains run as regular domestic trains until they reach Hong Kong. Passengers who travel on one of these trains between Beijing or Shanghai and Hong Kong are not eligible to use the 144-hour transit scheme because the checkpoint of exit or entry (Hong Kong West Kowloon Station) is not included in either city’s scheme. However, Hong Kong West Kowloon station is eligible for exit under Guangdong’s 144-hour scheme.

Sample routes:

Paris – Beijing – Hong Kong, with a highspeed train from Beijing West Station to Hong Kong West Kowloon Station. This is not eligible, but the passenger could choose a non-stop flight from Beijing to Hong Kong instead and clear immigration at one of Beijing’s two airports to be eligible for the scheme.

Paris – Guangzhou – Hong Kong, with a highspeed train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong West Kowloon Station. This is eligible, as Hong Kong West Kowloon Station is one of the checkpoints that can be used for exit in Guangdong’s 144-hour scheme.

Leaving the permitted travel area or combining different schemes

16 different areas in China each operate their own 144-hour or 72-hour visa-free transit scheme. For each of the schemes, travellers can only be present in the designated area of travel for that scheme. A traveller can take advantage of more than one scheme but must leave China and start over each time. A final decision on admissibility is at the discretion of immigration authorities.  

Sample routes:

Frankfurt – Beijing – Shanghai – Hong Kong with direct flights between each city. This route is ineligible for the scheme, as the traveller would leave the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area when flying from Beijing to Shanghai.   

Frankfurt – Beijing - Hong Kong – Shanghai – Frankfurt with direct flights between each city. With this route a traveller could visit both Beijing and Shanghai using each region’s transit scheme. In practice, this would be viewed as two trips, one between Frankfurt and Hong Kong with a 144-hour transit in Beijing and one between Hong Kong and Frankfurt with a 144-hour transit in Shanghai.

Frankfurt – Beijing – Hong Kong, with a day trip to Shenyang from Beijing. The passenger would be violating the conditions of stay by traveling to Shenyang, even if just for a short time.

Guangdong’s policy is more complicated

While Guangdong only allows 144-hour transit passengers to enter through Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport, Jieyang Chaoshan Airport, Nansha Port and Shekou Port, they can plan their exit from any of 36 passenger checkpoints in Guangdong, provided they can prove their intention to exit within 144 hours.

It should be noted that crossing into Hong Kong or Macao by foot or private vehicle does not easily meet the conditions for the 144- hour transit programme, as no ticket can be obtained in advance. There are provisions in place for passengers to exit through one of Guangdong’s “highway” checkpoints without a bus ticket by providing proof of their intention to travel onward to Hong Kong or Macao in the form of a hotel booking or plane ticket from Hong Kong or Macao. In practice, this facility would be very hard to make use of as it deviates significantly from the usual requirements of China’s 144-hour transit schemes and may not be well understood by airlines or immigration authorities. It would be advisable for passengers to purchase a ticket to Hong Kong or Macao in advance.

Q: Can I fly into Hong Kong, cross into Shenzhen and fly out of China from Guangzhou?

A: Yes, but practically speaking the only way you can travel from Hong Kong to Shenzhen through the 144-hour scheme is to take a ferry from Hong Kong to Shekou Port. You cannot enter by highspeed rail, bus, car or as a pedestrian. If you did your trip in reverse, flying into Shenzhen and out of Hong Kong, you would have the option to take the highspeed rail or a bus from Shenzhen to Hong Kong.

Q: I have read that I can enter Shenzhen from Hong Kong at the Luohu checkpoint without obtaining a visa in advance. Is this part of the 144-hour scheme?

A: The five-day Shenzhen Special Economic Zone visa on arrival is an entirely different scheme, which involves making an application to the port visa office and paying a fee. Holders of this visa cannot leave Shenzhen during their trip, but as this is not a transit scheme, they can return directly to Hong Kong from Shenzhen. A similar scheme exists for Zhuhai.

Hainan Visa-free

59 eligible countries

Visa-free conditions:

• Valid international travel document (usually a passport).
• For purposes other than work and study for a period of less than 30 days.
• Take direct flights to enter and exit Hainan from any place outside of Chinese mainland.
• Remain within Hainan province for the entire trip.

Other questions:

What is the difference between the 24-, 72- and 144-hour visa-free transit schemes?

All three of these schemes are only applicable for transit from one place to another. This means that to use the schemes, passengers must arrive and depart directly from different countries or regions.

Under the 24-hour scheme, a passenger can enter and exit from any checkpoint in China assuming they obtain entry permission. They are not limited to remaining in a set area, but they must leave China within 24 hours of their arrival. It is reported that four airports, Fuzhou (FOC), Huangshan (TXN), Mudanjiang (MDG) and Urumqi (URC) are not eligible for this scheme. When using this scheme, the decision to permit departure from the transit area is at the discretion of immigration authorities. In some cases, passengers with a flight connection on the same day of arrival from the same airport have been forced to remain in airport transit areas during this time.

Under the 144-hour and 72-hour schemes, travellers cannot exit the permitted area of travel for any reason, including to take transportation out of China, such as a domestic to international flight connection. In most cases, the permitted area is the entire province or a group of provinces, but in some cases only a city or group of cities are included. Travelers can also only enter or exit from prescribed checkpoints, which may not include every available checkpoint.

What documents do I need to provide upon entry into China?

All visitors to China should have proof of a confirmed ticket departing China on their arrival. Regardless of which scheme a passenger is entering China through, immigration authorities may ask to see other documents related to the travel, such as hotel bookings, information about business contacts or other documentation that supports the purpose of travel.

How can I guarantee that I will be eligible for entry into China?

Having a good understanding of the rules and preparing documentation that supports your travel plans increases the chances of making a smooth trip, but, as with any country, a final decision on admissibility will only be confirmed upon arrival in China.

What if my airline claims I am ineligible for travel during check-in?

Airline staff make an initial determination about a passenger’s admissibility to their destination country upon check-in. Unfortunately, one of the disadvantages of China’s visa free transit schemes is that they can be confusing, even to travel industry professionals. The best way to avoid confusion at the airport is to have a good understanding of the rules that apply and prepare as much supporting documentation as possible. Some airlines also provide information to passengers in advance about visa and transit requirements that can vary slightly from what is published by official government sources. For example, the information that Fuzhou (FOC), Huangshan (TXN), Mudanjiang (MDG) and Urumqi (URC) are ineligible for 24-hour visa free transit comes from an airline’s website. Ultimately, airlines will make a decision on boarding permission based on their best understanding of the rules that apply, and it cannot be guaranteed that this will match official interpretations exactly.