Do you need a visa for a 240-hour stopover in China?
No — if you hold a passport from one of 57 countries and you are genuinely passing through to a third country or region, you can enter mainland China without a visa and stay up to 240 hours, or 10 days. The National Immigration Administration extended the window from 72 and 144 hours to 240 on 17 December 2024, and added Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam on 20 August 2026, bringing the list to 57 countries. There is no age limit and no cap on how often you use it.
Europe supplies 40 of the eligible countries, including the UK, Ireland, Russia, Norway and the Schengen states. Add the United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Brunei, the UAE, Qatar, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam. If your passport is not on that list, the 24-hour transit rule still applies at every open port, but you cannot leave the port area without a temporary entry permit.
Before you fly
Your onward ticket is the document that decides whether you get in. You need a passport valid for at least three months, and an interline ticket or booking to a third country or region with a confirmed date and seat, departing within 240 hours. Print it — check-in staff and border officers both ask.
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What the route has to look like
The rule is A → China → B, where A and B are different countries or regions and B is outside mainland China. Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan count as a third region, so London → Shanghai → Hong Kong qualifies. A flight home to where you started does not.
At the border
- Complete the arrival card online before boarding, through the NIA 12367 app or its WeChat or Alipay mini program. Paper cards are still available at the port.
- On arrival, follow signs to the 240-hour visa-free transit counter at immigration and hand over your passport, onward ticket and arrival card.
- Approval happens there and then. Border officers issue a temporary entry permit sticker in your passport; hotels accept it for check-in and accommodation registration.
- If you are not in a hotel, register with the local police station within 24 hours of entry.
Where you can go, and the clock
Entry is allowed at 65 ports across 24 provincial-level regions, including Beijing Capital and Daxing, Shanghai Pudong, Hongqiao and the Shanghai passenger port, Guangzhou Baiyun, Shenzhen Bao'an, Chengdu, Xi'an, Hangzhou, Kunming, Chongqing and Harbin, plus the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge port and West Kowloon station. You can cross provincial borders inside the permitted areas — Guangdong province-wide, 11 cities in Sichuan, nine in Yunnan. Work, study and news reporting still need a visa.
The 240 hours start at 00:00 on the day after you arrive, so a morning landing buys you slightly more than ten days on the ground.
Last checked: 2026-09-13
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