72/144-hour Visa Free Updates & Full Lists

Vincent R. Vinci, Contributing Editor | Jul 20, 2024 5:21 pm | Add a comment | 1028 reads

China has been on a roll in the tourism department this year, granting visa-free travel as well as 144- and 72-hour visa-free transit to a host of new countries and regions, as well as expanding eligible port cities where those transiting are allowed to enter.

As of Jul 15, the list of port cities and entry points has been expanded by the National Immigration Administration (click to see official announcement in Chinese), with Henan and Yunnan provinces getting a bit of a boost

For a start, eight cities have been opened as eligible travel points for people visiting Yunnan on the 144-hour visa-free transit policy, with Lijiang, Yuxi, Pu’er, Chuxiong, Dali, Xishuangbanna, Honghe, and Wenshan joining the provincial capital of Kunming.

Additionally, three new entry points have been added for visitors, namely Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport in Henan, Lijiang Sanyi International Airport, and Mohan Railway Port, both of which are in Yunnan.

The cities in Yunnan join the following list of Chinese cities where both the 144-hour and 72-hour visa-free transit policy can be enjoyed. 144-hour visa-free transit can be done in the following cities:

  • Beijing
  • Chengdu
  • Chongqing
  • Dalian
  • Guangzhou
  • Hangzhou
  • Jieyang
  • Nanjing
  • Qingdao
  • Qinhuangdao
  • Shanghai
  • Shenyang
  • Shenzhen
  • Shijiazhuang
  • Tianjin
  • Wuhan
  • Xiamen
  • Xi'an

While 72-hour visa-free transit can be done in the following cities:

  • Changsha  
  • Guilin 
  • Harbin   

Travelers from the following countries can enjoy 144-hour and 72-hour visa-free transit:

  • Albania
  • Argentina
  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Belarus
  • Belgium
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Brazil
  • Brunei
  • Bulgaria
  • Canada
  • Chile
  • Croatia
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Macedonia
  • Malta
  • Mexico
  • Monaco
  • Montenegro
  • The Netherlands
  • New Zealand
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Qatar
  • Romania
  • Russia
  • Serbia
  • Singapore
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • South Korea
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • The UAE
  • Ukraine
  • The United Kingdom
  • USA

In certain cases, a special permit is required to do visa-free transit, but this requirement was waived for Beijing Capital, Daxing, and a number of other airports this year for those transiting within 24-hours in January this year, along with a slew of other policies announced.

In addition to the visa-free transit schemes, China has added a number of new countries to its 15-day visa-free travel policy. While this policy is only being trialed and was originally announced for 15 countries from Mar 14 until Nov 30 of 2024, the policy has since been extended to Dec 31, 2025 as of May 7.

The 15 countries who can enjoy 15-day visa-free travel to China until 2025 are as follows:

  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • France
  • Germany
  • Hungary
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Luxembourg
  • Malaysia
  • The Netherlands
  • New Zealand
  • Poland
  • Spain
  • Switzerland

Along with these countries, three others, Singapore, Thailand, and Georgia, have entered into mutual 30-day visa-free travel arrangements with China. They also aren’t the only countries who enjoy the policy, though. The others, according to China Briefing, are:

  • Albania
  • Antigua and Barbuda
  • Armenia
  • Barbados
  • Belarus
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Dominica
  • Ecuador
  • Fiji
  • Granada
  • Kazakhstan
  • Mauritius
  • The Maldives
  • Qatar
  • San Marino
  • Serbia
  • Seychelles
  • Suriname
  • Tonga
  • The UAE (United Arab Emirates)
  • The Bahamas

More countries are now allowed to enter the southern island province of Hainan for 30 days visa-free as of February this year, according to a report by China Daily. Citizens from 59 countries can now go visa-free to Hainan for the same purposes listed above, with the addition of medical treatment and attending exhibitions and sports competitions. These countries are:

  • Albania
  • Argentina
  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Belarus
  • Belgium
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Brazil
  • Brunei
  • Bulgaria
  • Canada
  • Chile
  • Croatia
  • Cyprus
  • The Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • Indonesia
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • Kazakhstan
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Malaysia
  • Malta
  • Mexico
  • Monaco
  • Montenegro
  • The Netherlands
  • New Zealand
  • North Macedonia
  • Norway
  • The Philippines
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Qatar
  • Romania
  • Russia
  • Serbia
  • Singapore
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • South Korea
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Thailand
  • The UAE
  • The United Kingdom
  • Ukraine
  • USA

 

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