240-Hour Visa-Free Transit: Eligibility Depends on Your Full Itinerary
Eligibility for 240-hour visa-free transit is based on the full itinerary—place of departure → China → a third country or region—and is also limited by passport nationality, ports of entry and the permitted area of travel.
Use the Full Itinerary to Determine Transit Eligibility
The essential condition of 240-hour visa-free transit is that you are in transit. You must travel from one country or region through the Chinese mainland to another country or region, with a connecting ticket or proof of onward travel showing a confirmed date and seat. A return to the place of departure, such as Country A → China → Country A, generally does not constitute travel to a third country or region. Staying in China for fewer than ten days does not automatically turn an ordinary return trip into transit.
Your passport nationality is on the current list of eligible countries.
You enter and leave through open ports published under the policy.
The countries or regions before and after China are different, and the onward ticket is confirmed.
You remain within the permitted provinces and travel areas and do not leave the policy's geographical scope.
Your activities in China fall within permitted categories such as tourism, business, visits or family visits, and do not include work, study or journalism that still requires prior approval.
The 240-Hour and 24-Hour Policies Are Not the Same
The National Immigration Administration's current page states that the 240-hour policy applies to nationals of 55 countries, who may enter without a visa through designated ports in 24 provincial-level regions—65 open ports in total—and remain within the permitted areas for no more than 10 days. The 24-hour visa-free transit policy applies to foreign nationals transiting through China to a third country or region with a valid international travel document and a connecting ticket. They need no visa if they remain within the port's restricted area; to leave it, they must apply to border inspection at the port for a temporary entry permit. The nationality requirements, permission to leave the port and travel areas differ between the two policies.
Do not book a ticket based on the vague phrase “visa-free connection.” Confirm whether your trip uses 24-hour transit within the port, temporary entry under the 24-hour policy, or 240-hour regional visa-free transit. Airline check-in staff and border inspection officers will assess your actual documents and complete itinerary.
Prepare an Itinerary Checklist Before Booking
Write down the country or region, city, airport, date, and flight, train or ship service for every segment.
Check your passport nationality against the National Immigration Administration's current list.
Check that the entry port, planned exit port and every city where you will stay are within the permitted scope.
Confirm that the onward ticket has been issued or is otherwise a definite itinerary that the carrier and border inspection can verify.
Prepare your accommodation address, contact person and approximate itinerary in China, and ensure that your passport remains valid throughout.
If the itinerary involves separate tickets, an overnight transfer, different airports or a last-minute change, explain the complete route to the carrier and 12367 in advance.
From Check-in to Departure
At the departure airport, tell the check-in staff that you intend to use China's visa-free transit policy, and show your passport and onward ticket from China to a third country or region. After arriving in China, follow the port signs to the appropriate channel and submit your documents, onward itinerary and accommodation information. Collect your baggage, clear customs and enter the permitted travel area only after border inspection has approved temporary entry or visa-free entry.
Keep offline copies of boarding passes, electronic tickets and booking references.
After entry, confirm the approved duration of stay and permitted travel area; do not calculate it yourself solely from “240 hours.”
Complete accommodation registration as required after checking in. Hotels usually handle it; if you stay somewhere other than a hotel, register separately.
If the itinerary changes, determine whether it still meets the third-destination, port, area and time-limit conditions.
Leave on time through a port allowed by the policy, with enough time for intercity transport, check-in and border inspection.
Itineraries Most Likely to Encounter Problems
The most common problems are having the same destination before and after China, an unconfirmed onward ticket, a passport nationality that is not on the list, entering or leaving through an unlisted port, or planning to travel outside the permitted area. Having connecting tickets on separate bookings does not automatically make an itinerary ineligible, but it can be harder for a carrier to verify quickly. If the first segment is delayed or the onward segment changes, the complete route may change from eligible to ineligible.
Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan involve separate immigration arrangements for this type of itinerary assessment, but no combination should be assumed to qualify solely on the basis of a travel guide. For a multi-segment trip, an open-port itinerary, or a route combining air, sea and land travel, give every ticket number and date to the carrier or 12367 for verification. The final admission decision is made by border inspection at the port on the basis of the documents and itinerary presented there.
Check Every Port and Permitted Area
240 hours does not mean unrestricted travel throughout the Chinese mainland. Different ports have different permitted travel areas: some allow travel across provincial boundaries, while others cover only specified provinces or cities. The National Immigration Administration updates its table of open ports and areas, so before booking an intercity high-speed train, a domestic flight or departure from another city, compare every city with the official table and save an offline screenshot of it.
Final Verification Before Departure
This guide was checked against the National Immigration Administration's Visa-Free Transit Policies page and is current through 2026-8-4: nationals of 55 countries, 24 provincial-level regions, 65 open ports, and permitted stays of no more than 10 days. The list and ports may continue to change. Check the National Immigration Administration page again before ticketing, before departure and after any itinerary change. For a complex route, call 12367 and confirm the check-in document requirements with the actual carrier.