Explainer | 5 visa-free ways to travel to China by land, sea and air for 72 hours and up to 30 days
- China’s tourism sector was hit hard by three years of zero-Covid, with Beijing only reopening its borders and abandoning quarantine in January
- In October and November, officials confirmed travellers from dozens of countries can again enter China through several visa-free schemes
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China expands visa-free travel to 6 new countries
Hassle obtaining a visa for China has long flummoxed travellers and left a void in the Chinese tourism sector as the world’s second-largest economy seeks to recover from the impact of years of the coronavirus.
And in October and November, the Ministry of Public Security, the National Immigration Administration and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that travellers from dozens of countries can again enter China through several visa-free schemes.
1. Transit through 23 Chinese cities (3-6 days)
Passport holders from 54 nations, including Australia, Japan, the United States and countries throughout Europe, can reach much of mainland China via international airports. China added Norway to the list on Friday.
Airports in the likes of Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, Chengdu, Chongqing, Guilin, Kunming, Qingdao, Shenyang, Wuhan, Xiamen, Guangdong province and the Shanghai-Jiangsu-Zhejiang cluster can process visa-free arrivals for transit passengers for 72 to 144 hours.
Travellers must stay within the designated city or surrounding provinces for the entire transit period.
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First travellers arrive and depart from Beijing as China reopens international borders
There is no charge and no application to fill out before travel, or on arrival.