Transfer in China and free visa-free entry
Under what conditions can I cross into China without a visa? And when is it possible to leave the airport and visit a city during a long layover?
China allows visa-free transit as long as the period of stay in China does not exceed 24 hours.
However, there is a greatly expanded version of the visa-free transfer option for travelers from 54 countries for up to 240 hours.
Book a hotel when transferring in China
Visa-free transfer for 240 hours
As of 2025, China has extended the previous visa-free 72-hour or 144-hour transfer to 240 hours, which is 10 days.
For official information, please visit this page: visaforchina.cn.
Who can take advantage of the 240-hour visa exemption?
This policy applies to citizens of 54 countries.
- Europe - Albania, Austria*, Belarus, Belgium*, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria*, Croatia*, Cyprus*, Czech Republic, Denmark*, Estonia*, Finland*, France*, Germany*, Greece*, Hungary*, Iceland*, Ireland*, Italy*, Latvia*, Lithuania, Luxembourg*, Malta*, Monaco*, Montenegro*, Netherlands*, North Macedonia*, Norway*, Poland*, Portugal*, Romania*, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia*, Slovenia*, Spain*, Sweden*, Switzerland*, Ukraine, United Kingdom
- North America - Canada, USA
- South America - Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico
- Oceania - Australia*, New Zealand*
- Asia - Brunei, Japan*, Republic of Korea (South Korea)*, Qatar, Singapore, United Arab Emirates
* Citizens of these countries have complete visa-free entry to China until 31 December 2025 and do not have to deal with transfer conditions at all.
When and where can I use the visa-free transfer?
You can enter China without a visa during a transfer if you are transiting through China to another (third) country. The final destination must be in a different country than the city of departure.
Travel to Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan also meet the definition of an international flight. They are treated as separate countries for these purposes.
Visa-free transfers apply to the provinces, airports and ports listed below.
After leaving the airport, you are free to move either throughout the province or in some cases only to the cities listed. Unless specifically stated, the entire province can be visited.
However, as of 2025, you can also transfer between all the provinces, or airports and ports , listed below.
- Beijing City
- Shanghai City
- Shanghai-Pudong Airport PVG
- Shanghai-Hongqiao Airport SHA
- Port of Shanghai
- Tianjin City
- Tianjin TSN Airport
- Tianjin Port
- Chongqing City
- Anhui Province
- Hefei HFE Airport
- Huangshan-Tunxi Airport TXN
- Fujian Province
- Fuzhou FOC Airport
- Xiamen XMN Airport
- Quanzhou-Jinjiang Airport JJN
- Wuyishan Airport WUS
- Xiamen Port
- Guangdong Province
- Guangzhou CAN airport
- Shenzhen SZX airport
- Jieyang-Chaoshan-Shantou Airport SWA
- Nansha Port
- Port of Shekou
- Guangxi Province - only 12 cities can be visited: Nanning, Liuzhou, Guilin, Wuzhou, Beihai, Fangchenggang, Qinzhou, Guigang, Yulin, Hezhou, Huchi, Laibin
- Guilin KWL Airport
- Nanning Airport NNG
- Beihai Airport BEH
- Beihai Port
- Guizhou Province
- Guiyang Airport KWE
- Hainan Province
- Hebei Province
- Shijiazhuang Airport SJW
- Qinhuangdao Port
- Heilongjiang Province - only Harbin city can be visited!
- Harbin Airport HRB
- Henan Province
- Zhengzhou Airport CGO
- Hubei Province
- Wuhan Airport WUH
- Hunan Province
- Changsha Airport CSX
- Zhangjiajie Airport DYG
- Jiangsu Province
- Nanjing Airport NKG
- Wuxi Sunan Shuofang Airport WUX
- Yangzhou-Taizhou Airport YTY
- Lianyungang Port
- Jiangxi Province
- Nanchang KHN Airport
- Liaoning Province
- Dalian DLC Airport
- Shenyang Airport SHE
- Dalian Port
- Shaanxi Province
- Xi'an XIY Airport
- Shanxi Province
- Taiyuan TYN Airport
- Shandong Province
- Jinan TNA Airport
- Qingdao TAO Airport
- Yantai Airport YNT
- Weihai Airport WEH
- Qingdao Port
- Sichuan Province - only 11 cities can be visited: Chengdu, Zigong, Luzhou, Deyang, Suining, Neijiang, Leshan, Yibin, Ya'an, Meishan, Ziyang
- Yunnan Province - only 9 cities can be visited.
- Kunming KMG Airport
- Lijiang Sanyi Airport LJG
- Mohan railway border crossing
- Zhejiang Province
- Hangzhou HGH Airport
- Ningbo Airport NGB
- Wenzhou Airport WNZ
- Yiwu Airport YIW
- Wenzhou Port
- Zhoushan Port
Can I have 2 or more transfers in China?
Yes. As of 2025, the full 240-hour visa-free entry to China should apply to itineraries that include multiple stopovers in China, including domestic Chinese flights.
The condition is of course arrival and departure from any of the above airports.
In addition, the domestic flight or overland journey must also pass exclusively through the above-mentioned airports or provinces.
For example:
- Amsterdam - Xiamen - Beijing - Tokyo
- Vienna - Beijing - Haikou - Auckland
- etc.
What documents do I need to have?
You must always present the necessary documents when you check in at your departure airport and then in China when you complete your visa-free entry application.
- A return airline or boat ticket
- Passport valid for at least 3 months after leaving China
- Visa for your final destination, if required
We consistently recommend that you have a hard copy of your connecting ticket.
How do I apply for visa-free entry to China during a layover?
You cannot apply for entry online in advance.
Upon arrival, before going through immigration control, look for the counter marked Temporary Permit Application to apply for visa-free entry.
With this, you will then go to immigration control and enter China.
- ℹ️ On this website we describe our experience of getting from the airport to the city centre and recommend top attractions to visit around the world.
- 💡 You might be interested in:
How is the 240 hour time limit calculated?
Actually, the allowed visa-free stay in China during a layover is always a little longer than 240 hours.
In fact, the time limit does not start until 00:00 the day after the passenger arrives in China.
So, for example, if you arrive on 1 January at 16:20, you can enter China immediately, but the 240-hour period will not be calculated until midnight on 2 January.
Risks and possible inconveniences
Since the early days when the policy of allowing visa-free visits to China on transfer was introduced many years ago, you will occasionally encounter officials or check-in agents who are not fully up-to-date or misinterpret the policy.
With more complicated itineraries, especially those that include multiple stopovers in China, or if you are continuing on from China other than by plane, there may be situations where check-in agents will not want to let you board the plane at all.
However, the information given here is based on official documents from Chinese visa centres (see visaforchina.cn) and can also be verified against the Tiamtic database used by airlines.
Timatic in a simplified version is publicly available free of charge on the Emirates website, for example.
Denial of access
The final decision to grant visa-free entry is always up to the official in China.
You may not be granted entry into China, in which case you must remain in the transit area of the airport for the duration of your transfer.
Usually officials will not give entry permits if you have too short a transfer time and would not be able to get a meaningful tour of the city.
Getting to/from Hong Kong or Macau by train or boat
Visa-free entry for 240 hours while in transit through China can also be used when crossing the border between China and Hong Kong or Macau by boat or train.
However, you can only use the designated stations or ports, the so-called "ports of call". Open Entry / Exit Ports.
However, different conditions apply for the journey to Hong Kong/Macao and different conditions apply for the return journey from Hong Kong/Macao to China.
In order to take advantage of the 240-hour visa-free policy when transiting through China, you must enter Guangdong Province (the only province bordering Hong Kong and Macau) only through the international airport or exclusively and only through these two ports on the outskirts of Guangzhou:
- Nansha
- Shekou
You cannot enter China through any other port (for example, at Shenzhen Airport or any port other than Nansha and Shekou) without a visa, nor can you enter China by train.
However, the situation is different when travelling the other way. You can leave China for Hong Kong and Macau via any port or XRL high-speed rail border crossing.
This is only true when travelling by XRL high-speed train, but you cannot leave China by subway via the Lo Wu or Lok Ma Chau border crossings.
Specific examples:
- Arrival in Guangzhou - XRL high-speed train to Hong Kong
- No need to arrange a visa to enter China - a 240-hour visa-free entry policy can be used
- Arrival in Shenzhen - ferry from any port in Shenzhen to Hong Kong or Macau
- No need to arrange a visa for China - 240 hours visa-free entry policy can be used
- Arrival in Hong Kong or Macau - ferry to Shekou or Nansha port
- No need to arrange a visa for China - 240 hours visa-free entry policy can be used
- Arrival in Hong Kong or Macau - ferry to a port other than Shekou or Nansha
- China visa required
- Arrival in Hong Kong or Macau - train to Guangzhou or Shenzhen - flight out of China
- Need to arrange a visa for China
💡 You might also be interested in
- Visa and entry formalities to Hong Kong or Macau
- What to see in Hong Kong
- How to travel between Hong Kong and Macau
Examples of itineraries
To give you a better overview, below are 5 examples of when you can use the 240-hour entry into China with a transfer and 5 examples of when you cannot.
| ✔ It is possible to enter China for 240 hours | x Cannot be used |
|---|---|
| Budapest - Ningbo - Shanghai - Auckland | Istanbul - Urumqi - Hong Kong (Urumqi airport does not fall under this policy) |
| Los Angeles - Beijing - Hong Kong | Hong Kong - Canton train Guangzhou - Amsterdam |
| Sydney - Haikou - Beijing - Prague | London - Beijing - Lanzhou - Bangkok (Lanzhou airport is not covered by this policy) |
| Bangkok - Shanghai Train Shanghai - Beijing Beijing - Tokyo |
Tokyo - Beijing - Osaka (transfer must be to a different country than departure) |
| Paris - Guangzhou boat and train to Hong Kong |
Paris - Shenzhen subway to Hong Kong |
Visa-free transfer for 24 hours
If you do not qualify for visa-free transit for up to 240 hours, in the vast majority of cases you will at least be eligible for a visa-free transfer within 24 hours.
This is available if you are flying through an airport that does not fall within the extended 240-hour period (international airports include Lanzhou LHW, Yinchuan YIC, Changchun CGQ or Lhasa LXA).
In this case, the time is calculated from the exact arrival in China to the departure from China.
Airports that cannot transit visa-free
According to the Timatic visa database used by airlines, visa-free transit is not possible even within the 24-hour period through Urumqi URC, Mudanjiang MDG and Huangshan TXN airports.
However, these exceptions are nowhere explicitly mentioned in the official information.
Any questions left?
If you have any questions or comments about the article...
10 comments
Michael: Hello, if I fly from Prague to Chongqing with a stopover (without leaving the airport) in Beijing, after a few days I fly to Macau, from where I will probably take a bus to Hong Kong, can I then fly from Hong Kong to Prague again (with a stopover in Abu Dhabi, UAE) to comply with the 240 hours transit visa? If I understand correctly that in this case both HK and Macau are treated as "foreign", then presumably this should be possible? Thank you.
If entry and exit is by air, then there should be no problem.
Hello, my friend and I are going on this trip, will we need a transit visa? Thanks in advance for the answer.
Hello, where did you read that there is a problem? Was that the latest information? I've been following the forums lately and not many problems like before are popping up. There shouldn't be a problem with other companies as long as you have all your tickets issued.
That looks like a Kiwi. 😊
Beware of the size and weight of your luggage on Springs Airlines.
Hey. Hey. I have a question, if I need to use two stopovers in China within one day, will I still be visa free?
Journey: Prague-Beijing and then Beijing-Sia-men
and Xia-men-Dempasar (Bali).
Thank you in advance for your reply.
Hi, yes. With the new rules in place, it doesn't matter how many layovers you have in China (as long as the layovers are at eligible airports - which is both Beijing and Xiamen).
Good evening. Is it possible to plan the following route for visa-free transit, taking into account the allowed airports of entry/exit? Budapest>Shanghai (9 days)>Hong Kong (2-3 days)>Sanya (10 days)>Budapest or Warsaw
Hello. Yes, such a route should work for visa-free transit.
I'm flying Milan-Macau with an 11-hour stopover in Shanghai and back to Macau-Milan with an 11-hour stopover in Beijing. Is it possible for a Ukrainian to go to the city? Thank you
Okay.
We are planning to fly to Chengdu for 3 days in January, then take the train to Chongqing for 3-4 days and then on to Thailand... is it possible to use a transit visa even if the arrival and departure are from another city... thanks
Yes, see info above. As of last year, you can transfer between provinces as long as you can fit in 240 hours.
I have Sri Lankan passport, but have permanent residence permit in Sweden. I have transit in Beijing and Chengdu, Tianfu airports 2 - 3 1/2 hours. Do I need transit visa ( even though it is less than 24 hours stay in the flight location) ?
If you have less than 24 hours in China, citizens of almost the entire world, including Sri Lanka, can transit through China without a visa.
the 24-hour visa-free transfer costs something
Visa-free entry is free, see information above.
Hi I'm going to China in October, will be in Beijing 5 days, go on to Hanoi 5 days, then back to Beijing for an overnight stay. Then back to Arlanda
Does it work with 240 h transfer visa?
// Janne
Hi, yes. This should work fine.
Hello, we are flying to Bangkok at the end of December 2025, we have 13h in Beijing to change plan to visit the Great Wall of China. According to what I'm reading it doesn't need anything, right? We have a valid passport and a follow up ticket of course :) I read on MinZahr website about "arrival card". No one else mentions it. Thank you all so much for your advice and help!
Hello, exactly, you don't need anything. All the information is filled in on the spot.
You must fill in the Arrival card. They usually hand them out on the plane, otherwise there are tables full of them in front of immigration with pens. I filled out the one I got on the plane, but the immigration officer told me to fill out some other arrival card. So I had to fill it out again on the spot. But in the end the delay was only about five minutes. Otherwise, now since November you can fill in the arrival card online, I wanted to do that, but Transit was missing in the purpose of visit option, so I gave up.