30.08 Million Foreigners Enter as China Expands Visa-Free and 240-Hour Visa Rules

(CHINA) — China expanded visa-free policies and recorded a sharp rise in cross-border travel, with 30.08 million foreigners entering visa-free in 2025, nearly three-quarters of all arrivals and a 49% increase from the prior year.

The National Immigration Administration also reported 21.3 million two-way foreign traveler movements in the first three months of 2026, up 14.2% year-on-year. Those flows helped drive a 22.3% overall rise in inbound and outbound travel.

The numbers point to the growing effect of China’s visa-free policies on tourism, business travel and short-stay visits. They also show how entry rule changes, transit programs and airport upgrades are reshaping the way foreign travelers move through the country.

A central part of that shift has come from wider unilateral visa-free entry. As of February 17, 2026, the policy covers 50 countries and allows stays of up to 30 days for tourism, business, visits or transit.

China also extended the policy through December 31, 2026, for ordinary passport holders from the original 45 countries. Canada and the UK were added after January 2026 visits by Prime Ministers Mark Carney and Keir Starmer.

Another driver has been the 240-Hour (10-Day) Visa-Free Transit program, which applies to nationals of 55 countries at 65 ports across 24 provinces. The policy expanded from 60 ports and took effect immediately from December 17, 2024.

That transit program now includes additions such as Guangzhou and Zhuhai’s Hengqin. It also allows cross-province travel within designated areas, broadening the scope for travelers who enter under transit arrangements rather than full visa waivers.

Alongside that program, China offers 24-Hour Visa-Free Transit at all ports for all nationalities. Travelers using that channel cannot leave port restricted areas.

Taken together, the policies have created several entry options with different lengths and conditions. For foreign travelers, the distinctions matter: unilateral visa-free entry allows stays up to 30 days, while the 240-Hour (10-Day) Visa-Free Transit is tied to eligible nationalities, eligible ports and designated travel areas, and the 24-Hour Visa-Free Transit remains the shortest and most restricted option.

The widening reach of those programs has come with administrative changes at ports of entry. Recent optimizations include 36 air, land, and sea ports for unified short-stay access.

Authorities have also deployed biometric e-gates at hubs such as Beijing Daxing and Shanghai Pudong. Pre-departure API screening linked to security databases has become part of the travel process as officials try to speed entry while maintaining border controls.

Airports have upgraded for digital QR code check-ins and faster processing. Those changes have been aimed in part at business travelers with multi-entry itineraries, a group that benefits from shorter processing times and more predictable movement through large international gateways.

The pace of growth has been strong beyond the full-year 2025 total. In the first half of 2025, China recorded over 23 million foreign entries, up 130% year-on-year.

That gain gave an early indication of how much traffic the new arrangements were attracting. By the time officials counted 30.08 million foreigners entering visa-free in 2025, the scale of the surge had become clearer.

The effects have extended into 2026. Spring Festival 2026 saw continued surges in foreign visits, adding to evidence that the easing of entry requirements is feeding not just isolated peaks but sustained demand across holiday and non-holiday periods.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has set a target of 50 million visa-free arrivals by 2027. It called that goal “achievable if each Tier-1 city converts one additional direct flight per day to visa-free origin markets”.

That target links travel policy to aviation capacity and route planning. It also shows that Chinese authorities view visa-free travel not as a narrow immigration adjustment but as part of a broader push tied to tourism receipts, business exchanges and travel-related consumption.

Further expansion remains on the agenda. In March 2026, the Ministry of Commerce and eight departments rolled out measures aimed at broadening eligible countries and transit policies to boost travel exports.

Those moves suggest the next stage may not rest only on adding more countries. It may also depend on how smoothly travelers pass through airports, land crossings and seaports once they qualify under the existing rules.

For travelers, the policy framework now breaks into clear categories. Nationals from countries covered by unilateral visa-free entry can stay up to 30 days for tourism, business, visits or transit.

Passengers from the 55 countries covered by the 240-Hour (10-Day) Visa-Free Transit can enter through 65 ports in 24 provinces and move across provinces within designated areas. Travelers who do not qualify for either of those broader arrangements may still use 24-Hour Visa-Free Transit at all ports, but only without leaving port restricted areas.

That layered structure gives China more than one way to capture foreign traffic. A tourist planning a longer short stay, a business visitor making repeated trips and a passenger transiting through a Chinese city all fall under different channels, even as the overall message remains one of easier access.

The rise in entries also reflects how travel demand responds when border procedures become simpler. Visa-free policies reduce the need for advance paperwork, and transit rules can turn what was once a stopover into a short visit inside the country.

Officials have paired that easier access with security measures rather than treating the two as competing aims. The recent increase in travel has taken place while authorities maintained security through watch-list integrations.

That balance is likely to remain central as volumes keep rising. Faster movement through e-gates and QR-based systems depends on the ability to check travelers earlier and more consistently, which helps explain the use of pre-departure API screening linked to security databases.

China’s latest figures show how quickly those policies have altered the composition of arrivals. When nearly three-quarters of all arrivals come through visa-free channels, policy design becomes a direct driver of traffic rather than a secondary factor.

The addition of Canada and the UK to the unilateral visa-free list also highlights the diplomatic dimension of travel policy. Expanding from the original 45 countries to 50 countries widened the pool of travelers who can enter for up to 30 days without a visa, adding fresh momentum at the start of 2026.

At the same time, the expansion of the 240-Hour (10-Day) Visa-Free Transit from 60 ports to 65 ports gives travelers more entry points and spreads traffic more broadly across the country. With 24 provinces in the system, the policy reaches far beyond one or two coastal hubs.

That matters for local tourism and transport operators as well as for national arrival totals. A traveler entering through a newly added port can now move through designated areas across provincial boundaries under the transit rules, widening the economic reach of each arrival.

The infrastructure changes support that broader spread. When airports upgrade for digital QR code check-ins and faster processing, they reduce bottlenecks that can blunt the effect of policy liberalization.

Biometric e-gates at Beijing Daxing and Shanghai Pudong give the policy a visible front end. Unified short-stay access across 36 air, land, and sea ports gives it an administrative backbone.

The latest data suggest those systems are now handling a travel market that is both larger and more varied than before. Foreign tourists, business visitors and transit passengers are all contributing to the rise, though each group enters under a different set of rules.

What stands out is the scale. From over 23 million foreign entries in the first half of 2025 to 30.08 million foreigners entering visa-free in the full year, and then 21.3 million two-way foreign traveler movements in the first three months of 2026, the trajectory points upward.

For policymakers, the challenge now is to sustain that pace while keeping procedures clear across multiple programs. For travelers, the message is more immediate: China’s visa-free policies, especially unilateral entry and the 240-Hour (10-Day) Visa transit option, have opened more routes into the country and made short stays easier to arrange.