CHINA. In a major boost for tourism and travel retail, China has extended its visa-free transit scheme to allow foreign travellers to extend the duration of their stay from the previous 72 hours and 144 hours to ten days, effective today.
The National Immigration Administration has announced that the enhanced entry policy will now apply to 60 ports, up from the original 39. The additional ports include Haikou Meilan and Sanya Phoenix international airports in Hainan, as well as Chengdu Tianfu International Airport in Sichuan and Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport in Guizhou, among others.
Under the updated visa-free transit policy, travellers from 54 countries can enter China via any of the 60 international ports. Visa-free visitors are permitted to engage in tourism, business and family reunions.
Those visiting for work, study or journalistic activities require prior approval and a visa.
The policy now covers 24 provinces, including Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hainan and Guizhou, allowing foreigners to stay in particular areas within these regions.
In Shanxi Province, the stay is limited to Taiyuan and Datong cities, while in Jiangxi Province it is restricted to Nanchang and Jingdezhen.
The stay areas in Fujian, Hubei and Shaanxi now cover the entire province, and in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region it has been expanded to 12 cities, including Nanning, Liuzhou, Guilin, Wuzhou, Beihai, Fangchenggang, Qinzhou, Guigang, Yulin, Hezhou, Hechi and Laibin.
Citing the National Immigration Administration’s data from mid-October, Global Times reported a +48.8% year-on-year increase in inbound trips during Q3, reaching 8.186 million. Of those, 4.885 million were facilitated by the visa-free policy, up +78.6% from the same period last year.
As reported, the Chinese government expanded its visa-free travel scheme last month to “further facilitate cross-border travel”. The revised policy, effective from 30 November through 31 December 2025, now covers ordinary passport holders from Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Malta, Estonia, Latvia and Japan, on a trial basis.
In July, the National Immigration Administration introduced new policies to expand visa-free entry for visitors from 59 countries traveling to Hainan. Last month, the scheme was updated to include 77 countries. ✈
