The National Immigration Administration of China issued an announcement on December 17, 2024 to comprehensively relax and optimize its visa-free transit policy with immediate effect, extending the stay time of visa-free transit foreigners in the country from the original 72 hours and 144 hours to 240 hours (10 days).
Qualified visitors from 54 countries including the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada who transit from China to a third country (region) can come to China visa-free via any of the 60 ports open to the outside world in 24 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) and stay in the specified areas for no more than 240 hours.
The number of ports open to the outside world has been increased from the original 39 to 60.
The 10-day visa-free stay policy is a good start and bodes well for our guests from Canada, the US and the UK. We expect further relaxation on this front by the Chinese government in the near future.
The latest development means guests from Canada, the US and the UK can join most of our China tours (less than 3 weeks) without having to apply for a China visa, a process that has annoyed so many Canadian and American applicants. We are tweaking our itineraries longer than 10 days and will use Hong Kong to make it possible for our guests to stay in China for up to 20 days without having to apply for a Chinese visa. The whole process is a bit more technical than explained above but we definitely can pull it off after checking with the Chinese authorities in charge. Doing away with the visa application saves the visitor lots of hassle and money.
Visitors from Australia and New Zealand have been able to visit China visa-free for up to 15 days per entry as early as July 1, 2024.
