China has fully reopened its borders, promising recovery of international tourism and travel. Many of the visa-free travel policies that were in place prior to the pandemic have therefore come back into effect, enabling people from a wide range of countries to visit China on a short-term basis.

Countries with mutual visa exemption agreements with China

China has also signed agreements on mutual visa exemption with over 150 countries, which enables certain citizens to travel to China without a visa. However, for the majority of countries, visa-free arrangements apply only to diplomatic or official passports.

A few countries do enable visa-free travel to China for citizens holding ordinary passports. Citizens from these countries are allowed to travel to China without a visa for up to 30 days for the purposes of tourism, travel, business, and visiting family or friends.

These countries are:

Citizens from the above countries will still need to apply for a corresponding visa to China if they intend to work, study, or settle in China, or intend to stay for longer than 30 days.

Countries with 15-day visa-free travel to China

In the past, citizens with a valid ordinary passport from Japan, Brunei, and Singapore have been permitted to travel to China for a period of up to 15 days without applying for a visa for the purposes of tourism, business, visiting relatives and friends, or transiting to a third country. However, this policy was suspended since the end of COVID-19 restrictions in China.

On July 26, 2023, the 15-day visa-free travel to China policy was resumed for citizens of Brunei and Singapore while at the time of writing, it’s still not clear when this policy will be resumed for citizens of Japan. This means citizens from Japan still need to apply for a Chinese tourist, business, or another type of visa to enter China at this time.

Then on November 24, 2023, China announced that its 15-day visa-free travel policy was expanded to five European countries and Malaysia. During the period from December 1, 2023, to November 30, 2024, Holders of ordinary passports from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Malaysia may enter China visa-free for business, tourism, visiting relatives and friends, and transit for no more than 15 days.

To note, citizens from these countries would previously also have had to apply for a visa in advance if they:

24/72/144-hour China visa-free transit

China allows eligible travelers from certain countries to enter and stay in certain areas of China for 24, 72, and 144-hour periods without prior application for a visa when transiting to a third country.

Note that people are excluded from this policy if they are:

144-hour visa-free transit

Under the 144-hour visa-free transit policy, foreign travelers can apply for a six-day entry permit to certain Chinese cities upon arrival at the port of entry, provided they hold a passport from one of the 54 eligible countries. They also must show that they are traveling to a third country after leaving China, which means they must show a connecting ticket to a third country when arriving in China. This is a great option for people who want to make a short stop-over to explore various areas of the country.

The 54 countries are:

Eligible travelers can only apply for the 144-hour visa-free transit if they enter through one of the 29 designated ports of entry in 20 mainland Chinese cities. In addition, travelers are only allowed to travel within a certain area on the entry permit and exit the country through designated ports as well. People who travel outside the permitted area and exit the country through a non-designated port may face certain penalties.

Source: https://www.china-briefing.com/news/china-visa-free-travel-policies-2023-complete-guide

Note: For accurate details, refer to the latest regulations from the local embassy.