China’s 30-day visa-free entry,
explained for Europeans.

Most European travellers can now enter China without any visa at all for stays of up to 30 days. The rule is simple — but the details at the border are not obvious the first time. Here is exactly how it works.

Is my country visa-free for China in 2026?

Very likely yes. Ordinary passport holders of 35 European countries may enter China visa-free for up to 30 days per entry — for tourism, business, family and friend visits, exchanges or transit. Most of these European arrangements run through 31 December 2026; Russia is extended through 31 December 2027. The UK is among the most recent additions (effective 17 February 2026); Czechia and Lithuania are notably not covered.

The full country list is below; this page was last reviewed on 14 October 2026.

Reviewed 14 October 2026. The National Immigration Administration lists 35 European countries. For most, the announced deadline is 31 December 2026; the Foreign Ministry's 20 May 2026 announcement extends Russia through 31 December 2027, superseding the older Russian deadline in the February embassy Q&A. We re-confirm the rule for your ordinary passport, purpose and dates before booking.

Travelling in 2027: re-check at booking time

For most listed European passports the announced deadline is 31 December 2026; Russia is already covered through 31 December 2027. For other 2027 trips, treat the policy status as one more thing to confirm when you book, alongside flights and hotels. The working method is simple: when you enquire, we re-confirm the current rule for your passport and dates, and we re-verify again before you fly. If the arrangement is not extended, travel returns to the standard visa process — an application through the Chinese visa centre in your country, typically a few weeks of lead time and a fee. The three situations — entering before the end of 2026, travelling in 2027, already booked — are laid out in the visa-free China 2026 planning guide.

Planning enquiries are free. For EU-resident travellers, bookings and deposits remain suspended until the applicable contracting and insolvency-protection requirements are satisfied. Read our client funds and travel cover information before making any commitment. If you are flexible on timing, see our month-by-month planning guide.

What is the 240-hour transit rule?

The 240-hour transit rule is a separate visa-free scheme that lets passport holders of 57 countries stay in designated Chinese regions for up to 10 days without a visa, provided you arrive from one country and depart onward to a different third country within 240 hours. You apply at the border on arrival, and it covers 65 ports of entry as of 2026. Source: the National Immigration Administration's visa-free transit policy page.

It is the useful fallback if your passport is not on the 30-day visa-free list — or if a short China stopover on the way to Japan, Korea or Southeast Asia is all you need.

What are the conditions for visa-free entry to China?

Ordinary passport, valid on arrival — 6+ months validity is recommended, as airlines can be strict. Stay is up to 30 days per entry, for tourism, business, visiting family or friends, exchanges or transit; no permits are needed before travel. Multiple entries are allowed with no published annual cap. Longer stays, work, study or journalism require a visa in advance.

One caveat on multiple entries: if you effectively live at the border on repeated stays, expect questions — the rule is written for visits, not residence.

What actually happens at the Chinese border on arrival?

Complete the online arrival card before you fly, then join the foreigners' lane — fingerprints are taken for most first-time visitors and it takes minutes. The questions are routine: where you're staying, how long, with whom. Your hotel registers you automatically; staying with friends means registering at the local police station within 24 hours (72 in rural areas).

We send you the current arrival-card link (QR or app) with your documents, so it’s done before departure. The one rule first-timers most often miss is the police-station registration whenever no hotel does it for you.

The choreography above is exactly how day one opens on our ten-day Classic China plan, worked out in full — the border hall, the first hotel night, and the registration handled automatically.

What should I carry to pass the China border quickly?

Printed confirmations of your first hotel and your onward or return flight, plus your first night's address in Chinese characters. Officers like paper — with those three things the whole process takes around ten minutes.

Visa-free entry removed the paperwork, not the culture shock of the border hall. Travel with us and those three things arrive prepared before departure — printouts, Chinese address, done.

And if you’d rather have the border choreography — and the rest of the trip — handled for you, that is the whole job of a private journey. See the Classic China route, ten days privately.