Does the visa-free scheme cover Hong Kong and Macau?

No. Hong Kong and Macau operate their own long-standing visa-free policies, separate from mainland China. Most Western passports get 90 days in Hong Kong and 30 days in Macau on arrival, and those have been in force for years. A mainland visa-free stamp does not cover HK or Macau, and an HK or Macau stamp does not cover mainland China. If your trip crosses between mainland and HK or Macau, you cross a border each time.

Can I re-enter mainland China on the 30-day scheme after leaving?

Yes. Under current rules there is no cap on re-entries. Each entry gets a fresh 30 days. Travellers on longer trips who want more than 30 continuous days sometimes step across to Hong Kong for the day and re-enter. Border officer discretion applies. If your pattern of re-entries starts to look like de-facto residence rather than tourism, expect closer questioning.

My travelling companions hold mixed passports. Do we all need to check separately?

Yes. Each passport is treated on its own. Companions with an Australian passport, a British passport, and Canadian-Australian dual national passports all fall under the 30-day scheme under current rules. A group with an Australian passport and a US passport has one visa-free entrant and one visa-required entrant, and the US passport holder needs the L-class tourist visa. Mixed-passport groups should tell us before we start planning; the paperwork end differs.

The visa-free scheme is confirmed through 31 December 2026. What happens after that?

The scheme has been extended twice, most recently in February 2026 with the addition of the UK and Canada. Public signalling from the MFA suggests a further extension is likely, but no announcement has been made as of 1 July 2026. If you are booking a trip that begins after 31 December 2026 and you rely on the visa-free scheme, treat the entry rule as unconfirmed and check with us or the NIA list closer to travel. Our own bookings past that date carry a conservative clause: if the scheme is not extended, we handle the tourist-visa application as part of the trip at no additional cost to the traveller.

Can I work or study on the visa-free scheme?

No. The 30-day scheme, the 240-hour transit rule, and the bilateral agreements all cover the same purposes: business, tourism, family visits, exchange visits, and transit. Paid work requires a Z-class visa. Credentialed journalism requires J-class. Study longer than short-term exchange requires X-class. Short business meetings and conference attendance are covered by 'business' and do not need a Z-class. If your reason for travel does not fit the covered purposes, you need the appropriate visa class regardless of your passport.

A traveller's luggage and passport at an airport

Visa & entry · 13 min read

China visa guide: who's visa-free and how the 240-hour transit works

1 July 2026·Updated 1 July 2026

Chinese visa rules changed in early 2026 and will change again. This page is the reference we send our own travellers when they ask about entry. It is verified against the PRC National Immigration Administration and Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 1 July 2026, and we re-verify it every month. The full sources list is at the bottom of the page.

Quick check: which rule applies to you

Ordinary passport holders from 51 countries can enter mainland China visa-free for up to 30 days as of 17 February 2026, confirmed through 31 December 2026. A separate 240-hour transit rule covers travellers with an onward ticket to a third country. Every other passport needs a Chinese tourist visa. The sections below tell you which rule applies.

There are four buckets in practice.

30-day unilateral visa-free. You hold an ordinary passport from one of the 51 named countries. You enter directly, stamp at the border, 30 days on the clock. This is the bucket most Australian, British, Canadian, New Zealand, and Western European travellers now sit in.
240-hour transit visa-free. You hold an ordinary passport from one of the 55 transit-eligible countries and you are transiting China on the way to a third country with a confirmed onward ticket. Up to 10 days, restricted to designated areas around your port of entry.
Bilateral visa-free. You hold a Singapore, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Georgia, or Antigua and Barbuda passport. Separate agreement, separate terms.
Visa required. Everything else, most notably the United States. You need a Chinese L-class tourist visa filed before you fly.

If more than one bucket applies to you (a British passport is on both the 30-day list and the transit list), use the 30-day rule. It has no onward-ticket requirement and no designated-area restriction, and it is almost always the better choice.

Sources: NIA current list · MFA visa-waiver notice

The 30-day visa-free scheme (51 countries)

The unilateral 30-day visa-free scheme opened on 1 July 2024. The United Kingdom and Canada were added on 17 February 2026, bringing the total to 51 countries. It covers business, tourism, family visits, exchange visits, and transit. Paid work, credentialed journalism, and longer study are not covered. Re-entries reset the 30-day counter.

The current list, grouped by region, is below.

Europe (35 countries). Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.

Oceania (2). Australia, New Zealand.

Asia (7). Bahrain, Brunei Darussalam, Japan, Kuwait, Oman, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia.

Americas (6). Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Peru, Uruguay.

Three things worth knowing about how the 30-day scheme actually works.

The counter starts the day after you enter. If you land on the evening of 1 October, day one begins at 00:00 on 2 October. Border officers stamp for up to 30 days regardless of onward ticket dates. Do not stay past 24:00 on day 30.

Re-entries reset the counter. You can leave to Hong Kong, Macau, or a nearby country and re-enter on the same passport for a fresh 30 days, as long as each entry is for one of the covered purposes. There is no annual cap on re-entries under current rules.

The scheme covers mainland China only. Hong Kong and Macau operate their own long-standing visa-free policies for most Western passports, and those are 90 days for Hong Kong and 30 days for Macau on arrival. Neither counts against a mainland stamp, and a mainland stamp does not cover HK or Macau.

The scheme is confirmed through 31 December 2026. It has been extended twice already, and public signalling from the MFA suggests a further extension is likely. Do not book a trip past 31 December 2026 assuming a visa-free entry that has not yet been announced. Check the NIA list or ask us before you fly.

Sources: NIA current list · MFA visa-waiver notice · Embassy of the PRC in the UK notice

The 240-hour visa-free transit policy (55 countries, 60 ports)

The 240-hour transit rule lets ordinary passport holders from 55 eligible countries transit mainland China visa-free for up to 10 days, provided they hold a confirmed onward ticket to a third country. Travellers must stay within the designated area tied to their port of entry. Cross-provincial movement outside that area is not covered.

The transit policy expanded from 72 and 144 hours to 240 hours in late 2024. It applies at 60 open ports across 24 Chinese provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government. Beijing Capital, Shanghai Pudong, Guangzhou Baiyun, and Chengdu Tianfu are the largest. The current port list is maintained by the National Immigration Administration and expands every few months.

The four rules that matter in practice.

Onward ticket to a third country. A return ticket back to your home country does not qualify. You must be transiting China on the way somewhere else. The onward ticket must have a confirmed date and seat.
10 days maximum. The clock starts at 00:00 on the day after you enter and runs to 24:00 on day 10.
Designated area only. If you enter at Shanghai Pudong, you can move freely within Shanghai and the adjacent provinces (Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui) that make up the designated area. You cannot fly to Yunnan for a side trip on the same transit stamp.
Purposes are limited. Tourism, business meetings, exchange visits, and family visits are covered. Paid work, study, and credentialed journalism are not.

If you are on both the 30-day unilateral list and the 240-hour transit list, use the 30-day rule. This is the case for most British, Australian, New Zealand, Canadian, and Western European passports. The 30-day rule is simpler, has no onward-ticket condition, and is not restricted to designated areas.

Sources: NIA 240-hour transit page · State Council coverage of port expansion

Bilateral visa-free agreements

China has bilateral visa-free agreements separate from the unilateral scheme. Singapore passports can stay 30 days per single entry. Thailand, Kazakhstan, Antigua and Barbuda, and Georgia passports may stay 90 days per 180-day period. These agreements pre-date the 30-day pilot and remain in force alongside it.

Bilateral agreements are governed by treaty, not by the unilateral policy notices from the PRC State Council. They do not carry the same 31 December 2026 expiry clock as the 30-day scheme. Purposes covered are the same as the unilateral scheme, and paid work, study, and credentialed journalism still require the appropriate visa class.

If you hold one of these passports and one from a 30-day scheme country (a Singaporean-Australian dual national, for example), you can enter on whichever passport gives you the better length of stay. The border stamp goes on the passport you present at the desk.

Sources: Foreign Ministry consular services, bilateral agreements

If you need a Chinese tourist visa

Passports not on any visa-free list need a Chinese L-class tourist visa. United States passport holders are the largest group in this position. Applications are filed at the Chinese embassy in the applicant's country. Processing runs four to ten business days under normal load. Ten-year multi-entry visas are common for first-time applicants.

The path for a US passport, which is the most common visa-required case we handle, is as follows.

Where to file. The Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C., or one of the five consulates in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, or Houston. Applications go through the China Visa Application Service Center in the same city as each mission. In-person biometrics are required.

What is required. A completed application form, one recent passport-style photo meeting the CVASC specification, six months of remaining passport validity, itinerary confirmation, hotel bookings, and return-flight confirmation. Documentary requirements shift periodically, and the CVASC checklist is the operational source of truth.

Processing time. Four to ten business days under normal load. Expedited service is available at the consulate's discretion, usually two to three days, at an additional fee. Rush service is not guaranteed and cannot be booked in advance.

Cost. The visa fee itself is set by the embassy. Service centre handling fees are separate. Both are quoted in the currency of the applying country at the time of application.

The Everonia handling. For travellers booking a trip with us, the visa application is not something you file alone. We collect the paperwork, book the biometrics appointment, run the CVASC submission, and courier the passport back. This is inside the trip cost, not a surcharge.

For Canadian passport holders, this section no longer applies. Canada was added to the 30-day visa-free list on 17 February 2026. If a Canadian traveller was told earlier this year that they needed a tourist visa, that guidance is out of date.

Sources: Embassy of the PRC in the US · US State Department China advisory · China Visa Application Service Center

Sources

Verified against the following authoritative sources on 1 July 2026. Next re-verify: 31 July 2026.

National Immigration Administration of the PRC: List of Countries Covered by Unilateral Visa Exemption. Verified 2026-07-01.
National Immigration Administration of the PRC: 240-hour Visa-Free Transit Policy. Verified 2026-07-01.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC: Visa waiver policy extension to UK and Canada, 15 February 2026. Verified 2026-07-01.
State Council of the PRC: China widens visa-free access in latest opening-up move, 4 November 2025. Verified 2026-07-01.
Embassy of the PRC in the United Kingdom: Notice on China's Visa Waiver Policy for the UK and Canada, 16 February 2026. Verified 2026-07-01.
Foreign Ministry Consular Affairs: Bilateral mutual visa exemption agreements. Verified 2026-07-01.
Embassy of the PRC in the United States: Visa application information. Verified 2026-07-01.
US State Department: China Travel Advisory. Verified 2026-07-01.
Smartraveller: Australia's DFAT China travel advice. Verified 2026-07-01.
UK FCDO: Foreign travel advice: China. Verified 2026-07-01.
Global Affairs Canada: Travel advice: China. Verified 2026-07-01.
NZ MFAT SafeTravel: China. Verified 2026-07-01.
China Visa Application Service Center (CVASC): Application portal. Verified 2026-07-01.

Frequently asked questions

No. Hong Kong and Macau operate their own long-standing visa-free policies, separate from mainland China. Most Western passports get 90 days in Hong Kong and 30 days in Macau on arrival, and those have been in force for years. A mainland visa-free stamp does not cover HK or Macau, and an HK or Macau stamp does not cover mainland China. If your trip crosses between mainland and HK or Macau, you cross a border each time.
Yes. Each passport is treated on its own. Companions with an Australian passport, a British passport, and Canadian-Australian dual national passports all fall under the 30-day scheme under current rules. A group with an Australian passport and a US passport has one visa-free entrant and one visa-required entrant, and the US passport holder needs the L-class tourist visa. Mixed-passport groups should tell us before we start planning; the paperwork end differs.
The scheme has been extended twice, most recently in February 2026 with the addition of the UK and Canada. Public signalling from the MFA suggests a further extension is likely, but no announcement has been made as of 1 July 2026. If you are booking a trip that begins after 31 December 2026 and you rely on the visa-free scheme, treat the entry rule as unconfirmed and check with us or the NIA list closer to travel. Our own bookings past that date carry a conservative clause: if the scheme is not extended, we handle the tourist-visa application as part of the trip at no additional cost to the traveller.
No. The 30-day scheme, the 240-hour transit rule, and the bilateral agreements all cover the same purposes: business, tourism, family visits, exchange visits, and transit. Paid work requires a Z-class visa. Credentialed journalism requires J-class. Study longer than short-term exchange requires X-class. Short business meetings and conference attendance are covered by 'business' and do not need a Z-class. If your reason for travel does not fit the covered purposes, you need the appropriate visa class regardless of your passport.