China airport arrival: the steps from gate to taxi

Updated 2026-10-18: First exhibits clear customs for ninth China International Import Expo in Shanghai.

Arrival at a Chinese airport runs in a fixed order: arrival card, quarantine desk, immigration, baggage, customs. Nothing needs booking or paying for. The one part you can finish before you land is the arrival card, which has been an online form since 20 November 2025 rather than a paper slip handed out on the plane.

Step 1: know your entry basis

Ordinary passport holders from 50 countries — including the UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, France and Germany — can enter for tourism, business or transit for up to 30 days without a visa. The scheme is time-limited, with most of those countries covered until 31 December 2026, so check your own nationality's end date rather than assuming.

Nationals of 57 countries can instead use 240-hour visa-free transit through 65 ports in 24 provinces, on a confirmed onward ticket to a third country. Apply to border inspection at the airport; the 240 hours start at 00:00 on the day after you enter. Work, study and reporting need a visa.

Travel medical insurance is not a condition of entry, but a hospital bill is the one cost a visa-free trip cannot absorb.

You can compare all the policies that cover mainland China before you fly.

Step 2: submit the arrival card

Fill it in up to 72 hours before arrival through the National Immigration Administration website, the NIA 12367 app, or the WeChat or Alipay mini-program. It is free, it takes a few minutes, and it needs your flight number and the address of your first night in China. You get a QR code — screenshot it, because immigration asks for it alongside your passport.

No phone or no internet? Use the QR code or the self-service terminals at the inspection area, or ask for a paper card. Seven groups skip the card entirely: permanent residence ID holders, Hong Kong and Macao residents' permit holders, group visa or group visa-free arrivals, 24-hour direct transit passengers staying airside, cruise passengers on the same ship in and out, e-channel users, and foreign crew on cross-border transport.

Step 3: quarantine, then immigration

The quarantine desk is a formality unless you have symptoms — fever or vomiting means telling an official. Then join the foreign-passport queue. Fingerprints are taken from everyone aged 14 to 70 inclusive, with exemptions for diplomatic passports, reciprocal arrangements and incomplete prints. Expect to be asked where you are staying and for how long.

Step 4: bags, then customs

Nothing to declare means the green channel. Take the red channel and file a written declaration if you are carrying goods over the duty-free allowance, or cash of RMB 20,000 or more, or foreign currency worth the equivalent of US$5,000 or more. Children under 16 travelling with an adult are not listed separately on the form.

Past customs you are in the public arrivals hall, where taxi ranks and airport rail are signposted.

Last checked: 2026-10-18