China entry guide
It depends on your passport, travel purpose, length of stay, route and dates. You may qualify through a unilateral or mutual visa waiver, transit policy or another regional policy, but every option has conditions.
Read this before using the tables
The final answer belongs to the Chinese embassy or consulate responsible for your location and China’s National Immigration Administration (NIA). Border inspection officers make the final admission decision. Confirm your exact passport type, purpose, route and dates before paying for non-refundable travel.
Passport first
Chinese Visa Application Service Center guidance generally asks for at least six months of remaining passport validity and blank visa pages. The responsible embassy, consulate or visa centre can set the exact document requirement for your application, and a longer-validity visa can require more passport validity.
Do not turn the visa-application rule into a universal promise for every visa-free journey. The relevant waiver, passport type, intended stay, transit points and carrier checks control your case. Your passport must remain valid for the applicable journey, and a nearly expired or damaged document can still stop the trip.
Check the expiry date, condition, blank pages and exact name/number used on every booking. Then confirm the rule with the Chinese mission or visa centre responsible for your location and with the airline for the whole route before paying for non-refundable travel.
Chinese Visa Application Service Center FAQ ↗First, identify the rule
Direct entry for ordinary-passport holders from 50 named countries, for eligible short-stay purposes.
Check this rule 02A country-specific treaty. Passport coverage and permitted stay differ by agreement.
Check this rule 03For 57 nationalities travelling onward to a different country or region through designated ports.
Check this rule 04For all nationalities at open international ports, normally without leaving the restricted port area.
Check this rule01 · Ordinary-passport unilateral waiver
This route covers holders of ordinary passports visiting for business, tourism, family or friend visits, exchange, or transit. It does not cover work, study, journalism or other activities that require prior approval.
| Country | Stay per entry | Policy validity |
|---|---|---|
| Andorra | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Argentina | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Australia | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Austria | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Bahrain | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Belgium | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Brazil | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Brunei | Up to 30 days | No expiry date stated |
| Bulgaria | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Canada | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Chile | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Croatia | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Cyprus | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Denmark | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Estonia | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Finland | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| France | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Germany | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Greece | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Hungary | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Iceland | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Ireland | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Italy | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Japan | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Kuwait | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Latvia | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Liechtenstein | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Luxembourg | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Malta | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Monaco | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Montenegro | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Netherlands | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| New Zealand | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| North Macedonia | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Norway | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Oman | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Peru | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Poland | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Portugal | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Republic of Korea | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Romania | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Russia | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2027 |
| Saudi Arabia | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Slovakia | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Slovenia | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Spain | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Sweden | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Switzerland | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| United Kingdom | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
| Uruguay | Up to 30 days | Through 31 Dec 2026 |
02 · Mutual ordinary-passport agreements
The table below lists agreements that current MFA and NIA material identifies as covering standard ordinary passports for entry to China. An agreement has no fixed expiry unless suspended or changed, but its exact purpose and passport rules still control.
A rolling “90 days in any 180-day period” includes earlier stays: it is not a fresh 90-day allowance on every entry.
| Country | China-side stay | Ordinary-passport rule effective |
|---|---|---|
| Albania | Up to 90 days in any 180-day period | 18 Mar 2023 |
| Antigua and Barbuda | Up to 30 days per stay; max 90 days in any 180-day period | 11 May 2024 |
| Armenia | Up to 90 days in any 180-day period | 19 Jan 2020 |
| Azerbaijan | Up to 30 days per stay; max 90 days in any 180-day period | 16 Jul 2025 |
| Bahamas | Up to 30 days | 12 Feb 2014 |
| Barbados | Up to 30 days | 1 Jun 2017 |
| Belarus | Up to 30 days per stay; max 90 days per year | 10 Aug 2018 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Up to 90 days in any 180-day period | 29 May 2018 |
| Dominica | Up to 30 days | 19 Sep 2022 |
| Ecuador | Up to 30 daysThe current MFA master list flags a restriction in the China-to-Ecuador direction; Ecuadorian travellers should still confirm the China-entry position before booking. | 18 Aug 2016 |
| Fiji | Up to 30 days | 14 Mar 2015 |
| Georgia | Up to 30 days per stay; max 90 days in any 180-day period | 28 May 2024 |
| Grenada | Up to 30 days | 10 Jun 2015 |
| Kazakhstan | Up to 30 days per stay; max 90 days in any 180-day period | 10 Nov 2023 |
| Malaysia | Up to 30 days per stay; max 90 days in any 180-day period | 17 Jul 2025 |
| Maldives | Up to 30 days | 20 May 2022 |
| Mauritius | Up to 60 days | 31 Oct 2013; 60-day limit from 14 Jun 2017 |
| Qatar | Up to 30 days | 21 Dec 2018 |
| Samoa | Up to 30 days per stay; max 90 days in any 180-day period | 2 Apr 2025 |
| San Marino | Within 3 months | 22 Jul 1985 |
| Serbia | Up to 30 days | 15 Jan 2017 |
| Seychelles | Up to 30 days | 26 Jun 2013 |
| Singapore | Up to 30 days | 9 Feb 2024 |
| Solomon Islands | Up to 30 days per stay; max 90 days in any 180-day period | 28 Dec 2024 |
| Suriname | Up to 30 days | 1 May 2021 for ordinary passports |
| Thailand | Up to 30 days per stay; max 90 days in any 180-day period | 1 Mar 2024 |
| Tonga | Up to 30 days | 19 Aug 2016 |
| United Arab Emirates | Up to 30 days | 16 Jan 2018 |
| Uzbekistan | Up to 30 days per stay; max 90 days in any 180-day period | 1 Jun 2025 |
03 · 240-hour visa-free transit
Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam joined the policy on 20 August 2026, taking the current total from 55 to 57 countries.
You must travel from country or region A, through mainland China, onward to a different country or region B. A return to the same origin is not transit to a third destination.
London → Shanghai → Tokyo: transit structure
London → Shanghai → London: not the required structure
The 240-hour stay is calculated from 00:00 on the day following entry. The current NIA policy covers 65 ports in 24 provincial-level areas; use the official NIA port-and-area table linked in the sources instead of assuming the whole country is open to your itinerary.
04 · 24-hour visa-free transit
The basic policy assumes you remain inside the restricted port area. To leave it, apply to border inspection for a temporary entry permit. Approval is discretionary—do not plan a city visit as guaranteed.
Regional options
A regional waiver is not permission to travel throughout mainland China. Its entry ports, travel area, purpose and group requirements must all be followed.
NIA also publishes rules for cruise groups, ASEAN tourist groups visiting Xishuangbanna or Guilin, and eligible tourist groups travelling from Hong Kong or Macao to Guangdong or Hainan. These require specific group, agency, port and travel-area conditions.
Read NIA’s official regional-policy page ↗Official sources
Every link below goes to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Immigration Administration or State Council.
Before you book
Source-linked guidance
Every guide links to official or primary sources so you can verify important details before travel.
Reviewed August 2026
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