Further relaxation of visa-free transit arrangements for international visitors traveling to China has been announced by Beijing’s authorities recently.  International travelers are now allowed to enter China and stay up to 240 hours! Along with other developments, the new arrangement signals that foreign visitors are increasingly welcome in China.  

The visa-free transit policy permits foreign nationals bound for a third country (or region) to visit China without a visa and stay for a designated period of time. According to the last articulation of the visa-free transit arrangements, individuals from 54 eligible countries were allowed to enter China through 39 different airports and border crossings, travel around the country (limited to 19 listed provinces), and then back out through the same entry point—all within a time frame of up to 144 hours.

The most recent version has included an additional 21 international airports into the list of eligible entry points. The number of hours a visitor can stay has been extended once again, to now become 240 hours. They are also allowed to visit 24 provinces rather than just 19.

The relaxed transit arrangements are highly popular. Foreign mainstream media has commended China's push to boost international tourism and, at the same time, 'travel to China' has become a trending topic on many social media platforms. Influencers from various countries have been visited China and uploading their travel vlogs online for all to see. The most popular of these videos—a TikTok, actually—has been viewed over 80 million times, while 'travel to China'-themed videos on TikTok have been viewed almost 1 billion times.