240-Hour Visa-Free Transit in China: The 2026 Rules

You’re three flights from home, and the cheapest route threads through Shanghai with a ten-day gap between connections. Ten days is enough to actually see the place — and since December 2024, China lets you spend those days here without a visa.

TL;DR — the 30-second version

For: citizens of the 54 countries on China’s transit list who are flying through China to somewhere else.

• Stay up to 240 hours (10 days) without a visa, since December 17, 2024.
• No application in advance, no fee, no bank statement. It’s sorted at the border.
• The catch: it’s for transit. You need an onward ticket to a third country, with a fixed date, leaving within those 10 days.
• The clock starts at midnight after you clear immigration — land at 11 p.m. and you still get ten full days.

The short answer: what changed, and when

Since December 17, 2024, China’s visa-free transit window has been 240 hours — ten days, up from the old 72 or 144. The National Immigration Administration (NIA) runs the policy, and it now covers:

• citizens of 54 countries — the US, UK, Canada, Australia and most of Europe are on the list;
• 60 ports of entry and exit, including most major international airports, plus sea and rail crossings;
• 24 provincial-level regions, and since the December 2024 update you can travel across all of them, not just the city you landed in.

That combination — no visa, ten days, free movement — is why this is the first trip-planning shortcut we reach for when a route threads through China.

The rule most people get wrong: it’s transit, not tourism

Here’s the trap. The 240 hours only apply when China sits between two other places. London → Shanghai → Tokyo works. London → Shanghai → London does not. The onward leg has to be a third country or region, not your starting point.

So if your plan is “fly in, see Shanghai for a week, fly home,” the transit rule is the wrong tool. There’s a separate visa-free entry scheme (up to 30 days for many nationalities), but it covers a different country list — check which one you actually qualify for before you build a trip around either.

Where it works, and how the 10 days count

Entry and exit both happen at designated ports — the 60 above. Land at Beijing Daxing, spend five days in Chengdu, fly out of Shanghai: that’s fine, because cross-region travel has been allowed since the December 2024 update. What you can’t do is extend the stay or swap it for a visa later.

One detail most guides miss: the clock starts at midnight after you arrive. Clear immigration at 23:00 and day one begins at 00:00 the next day. Ten days is ten days, but a late landing buys you a full extra day of sightseeing.

What actually happens at the airport

Nothing bureaucratic, once you know the flow:

1. At check-in, the airline asks for your onward ticket. Have it — on paper or in the app — because the carrier is the first checkpoint.
2. At immigration, follow the transit / visa-free channel; staff point you to it at most large airports.
3. Passport plus the onward ticket. That’s the whole check. No application form, no fee, no photo, no hotel proof.
4. You get a stamp with a departure deadline. The date matters, not the hour — leave the day before that stamp runs out.

Fine print worth reading before you fly

• The 54-country list and the port list have both grown since December 2024 — and they can change again. Check the current versions on the NIA site (nia.gov.cn) a day or two before you travel.
• Overstaying is the one real risk: a fine, and a real chance of extra questions at the border next time. Set a reminder for the day before your outbound flight.
• Officers can ask where you’re headed and why the stopover is long. Have a rough plan — a city, a couple of neighborhoods — not a script.
• A hotel booking isn’t required for the transit entry itself. We still carry one anyway; it costs nothing and makes the conversation shorter.

Quick answers

Q: Do I need to apply for the 240-hour visa-free transit in advance? A: No. It’s granted at the port when you arrive, and your passport plus a confirmed onward ticket to a third country are the only real requirements.

Q: Can I use it to fly back home? A: No. The onward flight must go to a third country or region, not the one you came from.

Q: Is ten days the maximum? A: Yes — 240 hours, counted from midnight after your arrival day. No extensions, and it can’t be converted into another visa type while you’re in China.

Editorial review: EasternReset Team · Snapshot: 2026-09. Found an error? Tell us.