China extends visa-free transit stays to 10 days

HONG KONG - China announced on Tuesday a relaxation of its visa-free transit policy, extending the permitted stay for eligible foreign travellers to 240 hours, or 10 days, from the original 72-144 hours, as authorities aim to lure more foreign visitors.

The measure, which is effective immediately, was announced by the National Immigration Administration (NIA) on its official Wechat account.

People from 54 countries including Russia, Brazil, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, "who transit from China to a third country (region), can enter China without a visa from any of the 60 open ports in 24 provinces and stay in the specified area for no more than 240 hours," it said.

China, since reopening its borders in 2023 after three years of self-imposed isolation due to COVID-19, has waived visa requirements for travellers to encourage visitation to the world's second largest economy.

In November China's Foreign Ministry said China had extended its visa-free policy to a total of 38 countries.

People from these countries including Spain, Singapore and the Netherlands, do not need a visa to enter China and can stay for up to 30 days for business, tourism, family visit, exchange and transit purposes,

Foreigners made 8.2 million inbound trips to China, up 48.8% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2024. More than half of these were facilitated by the visa-free policy, up 78.6 percent year-on-year, the NIA said in October.

(Reporting by Farah Master and the Beijing newsroom; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Michael Perry)