The National Immigration Administration (NIA) informed on Tuesday that the duration of visa-free transit for foreign nationals entering China has been extended from an earlier 72 and 144 hours to 240 hours or 10 days. It is an immediate application meant for tourism, business, visits, or family reunions.
According to NIA, the total number of eligible ports for this scheme will increase from 39 to 60, which will also include Chengdu Tianfu International Airport Port, Sichuan Province, and Sanya Phoenix International Airport Port in Hainan Province. Moreover, the allowed areas for visa-free foreign nationals extend to twenty-four provinces, including Anhui, Jiangxi, Hainan, Shanxi, and Guizhou, changing the original 19.
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They can engage in activities like business, visit, and go around places, and even spend time with family, during their visa-free stay in China. However, studying, working for pay, or conducting news interviews and a set of other actions requiring prior permission could only happen with a visa, as per the NIA.
Currently, 54 countries meet the requirements for the visa exemption policy for a 240-hour transit. According to the latest data released by the NIA, which has listed 29.218 million foreign entries through various ports of entry between January and November 2024, this depicts an 86.2% increase compared to last year. Out of that, 17.446 million came in visa-free, showing a year-on-year growth of 123.3%.