Entry rules · 2026–2027
China is more open than it has been in decades: fifty nationalities now get 30 days visa-free — including the UK, Australia and Canada — and Americans get ten days on an onward ticket. Here is what applies to your passport.
The short version
One gives fifty nationalities a full month with almost no paperwork. The other gives US travellers ten days on nothing more than an onward ticket.
30-day visa-free entry
For passport holders from the UK, almost all of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and more — fifty countries on the unilateral list, plus around twenty-nine with mutual agreements. It covers tourism, business meetings, family visits and transit; the scheme currently runs to 31 December 2026 for all but two of those fifty. What that date means for a 2027 trip is set out below.
240-hour visa-free transit
For the United States, Mexico and 57 nationalities in total, at 65 designated ports — Chengdu qualifies. Hold a confirmed onward ticket to a third country or region. Hong Kong counts.
In practice: a British family can fly into Chengdu and travel China for a month with zero paperwork. An American couple can fly in, spend ten full days exploring, then fly out via Hong Kong, Tokyo or Seoul — no visa, no embassy visit, no fees.
30-day entry
No application and no fee — eligible passport holders simply arrive, with a passport valid for at least six months.
Europe
Asia-Pacific
Americas & Middle East
Also covered, under mutual agreements: Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the UAE, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Armenia and around twenty more countries enter under separate mutual agreements — most also for 30 days.
The lists are periodically extended by the Chinese government — the UK and Canada joined as recently as February 2026. Not sure about your passport? Ask us — we check the current route and point you to the official rule before you book anything.
240-hour transit
The US isn’t on the 30-day list, but the 240-hour transit policy comes close — ten days is enough for most first trips, buffer days included.
Planning for 2027
A private China trip usually takes three to six months to shape, so most people writing to us now are planning for 2027. The two policies sit differently on that horizon. It is worth separating them.
240-hour transit
No official notice sets an expiry for the transit policy. It is published as a standing rule, and every change since 2023 has widened it — from 72 and 144 hours to 240 in December 2024, then to 57 nationalities and 65 ports by August 2026. For US passport holders, nothing announced changes in 2027.
30-day visa-free
Forty-eight of the fifty countries are written as running to 24:00 on 31 December 2026. Two already sit past it: Brunei has no end date, and Russia runs to 31 December 2027. No extension for the remaining forty-eight has been published yet.
What we do either way: we confirm the rule that applies to your passport before you commit to flights, and again before you fly, and we tell you which official notice we are reading it from. Book on the normal timeline. Waiting for an announcement costs you the dates you want.
At the border
Since November 2025 the paperwork has moved online. Here is the whole sequence, from your sofa to the arrivals hall.
Not on either list?
Full support for travellers from all countries: invitation letters, itinerary confirmations, hotel booking proofs, and step-by-step guidance through the application. We’ve walked travellers from India, the Philippines, Indonesia, South Africa and many other countries through it smoothly.
Before you fly
Disclaimer: visa policies change. This page reflects the rules as of September 2026 — confirm current rules with your nearest Chinese embassy, or ask us for the latest before booking flights. We recheck the position for every guest before booking.
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Now the good part
Thirty days or ten — what matters is how they’re spent. See how couples and families shape a private China around the time they have.
Good to know
Yes. Fifty countries — including the UK (added February 2026), almost all of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Canada (added February 2026) and Brazil — can enter China visa-free for up to 30 days. Around twenty-nine more countries, including Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the UAE and Qatar, enter under mutual agreements. US citizens use the 240-hour (10-day) visa-free transit policy instead.
US citizens are eligible for the 240-hour (10-day) visa-free transit policy, now covering 57 nationalities and 65 ports of entry. You must enter through a designated port and hold a confirmed onward ticket to a third country or region within 240 hours — Hong Kong counts.
No visa application, no fee. The one piece of admin is the e-arrival card, introduced in November 2025: you fill it in online before your flight — on the National Immigration Administration website, the NIA 12367 app, or a WeChat or Alipay mini-program — and show the QR code it generates at the border. Paper cards remain available at ports as a fallback.
The two policies are dated differently. The 240-hour transit policy carries no end date in any official notice — it is published as a standing rule. The 30-day scheme runs to 24:00 on 31 December 2026 for 48 of its 50 countries; Brunei has no end date and Russia runs to 31 December 2027. Policies do change, which is why we recheck the exact rule for your passport before you book anything.
For the 240-hour transit route, yes as things are written today: no official notice sets an expiry for it, and every change since 2023 has widened it — from 72 and 144 hours to 240 in December 2024, and to 57 nationalities and 65 ports by August 2026. The 30-day scheme is the one with a date on it: 31 December 2026 for 48 of the 50 countries, with no extension for them published yet. That scheme has been extended twice and widened from six countries to fifty since December 2023, and both previous extensions were announced in the autumn before the old date ran out. We recheck the official notices monthly and tell guests whose dates are affected.
No. Both previous extensions were announced in the autumn before the year they covered, which is later than the point at which spring flights, hotels and park permits have to be held. Plan and book on the normal timeline. If the 30-day scheme is extended, nothing changes for you. If it is not, the fallback is an ordinary tourist visa, and we supply the invitation letter, itinerary confirmation and hotel booking proofs it needs, then guide you through the application you lodge yourself. US passport holders are unaffected either way — they use the 240-hour transit route, which has no expiry date.
Your brief
We’ll confirm the current entry route for your nationality and sketch a first direction — three lines is plenty.
A real person will reply within 24 hours, usually much sooner. If it’s easier, continue on WhatsApp:
Open WhatsAppStart the conversation
Tell us your nationality and dates — we confirm the current entry route, then shape the trip around the time you have.
