China is loosening its visa policy and allowing some travelers to stay in the country for up to 10 days without obtaining the document.
The United States is among the dozens of countries eligible for the more lenient measure, part of a movement to ease restrictions and welcome back foreigners.
The National Immigration Administration announced the change in December.
To qualify for a 240-hour visa-free stay, travelers must transit through any of 60 airports, train stations or seaports in 24 provinces or regions, including such major destinations as Beijing, Shanghai and Sichuan.
In the original rule, which launched last year, foreign travelers were limited to three or six days on the ground and had fewer access points.
“China generally has been doing a lot to improve accessibility,” said David Peat, regional product manager for China with Audley Travel. “It’s a big improvement.”
The expanded initiative also allows for greater movement in the country. Unlike before, when the government restricted transit (or connecting) travelers to a specific area and port of entry, they can now explore all of the destinations that fall under the policy’s umbrella. In addition, they can arrive at one entry port and depart from a different one.
“The updated policy gives a bit more freedom,” said Taylor Hub, global group product manager for Asia at Abercrombie & Kent.
One stipulation is the same, however. The China stop is technically for a layover, so you will need a reservation for a third country. For example, you can’t fly from New York to Beijing round-trip, but you could fly from New York to Bangkok to Beijing before returning home. Or from New York to Beijing to Bangkok.
“You will need to show your flight itinerary to show which third country you’re going to and that you’re going to leave within 10 days,” Peat said. “But that’s all you have to do.”
According to online information provided by the Chinese Embassy in Washington, a border inspection officer will process the entry application and green-light a visitor’s temporary entry. The visa starts the day after your arrival, it stated. To be safe, Peat recommended activating the stopwatch upon landing.
The State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Beijing did not respond to a request for more information. The Chinese Embassy forwarded a link to the policy that did not mention the extended duration.
The more generous policy is part of a movement to ease restrictions and attract visitors to China, which has not rebounded from pandemic curbs as quickly as other countries, such as Japan. One reason: China reopened its borders only last year.
According to the National Immigration Administration, nearly 16.5 million foreigners visited in the third quarter of this year, a more than 50 percent increase from 2023.
China is about “85 percent of where it was in 2019,” Peat said. “They’re hoping with these policies to maybe meet the numbers for 2025 and just keep growing from there.”
To court visitors of all types, the government previously announced that cruise ship passengers can spend up to 15 visa-free days in Beijing and 11 coastal provinces and regions. For overland travelers, hotels in more rural areas would sometimes decline reservations from international guests because of the hassle factor, but Peat said the government is requiring all lodgings to accept foreigners. In addition, hotels and many other businesses must accept international credit cards. The more inclusive payment policy also applies to the Chinese apps Alipay and WeChat Pay.
One of the more promising developments is a 30-day unilateral visa-free entry to people from nearly 40 countries, including France, Latvia, Croatia, New Zealand Japan and Switzerland.
The United States is not among those countries.
“Hopefully it’s a possibility in the future that U.S. citizens and U.K. citizens might also get it,” Peat said, “but at the moment, they have to apply for a visa for longer trips.”
People who need a visa will be relieved to learn that China has tweaked its onerous visa process. Hub said applicants can fill out the long form online and no longer have to submit proof of a round-trip flight, hotel reservations, an itinerary or an invitation letter. For a March trip, she received her visa from the Chicago consulate in five business days.
“It is now slightly easier to obtain the visa,” she said. “And the nice thing is they typically issue a 10-year multi-entry visa.”
The change comes at a time when interest in travel to China is on the rise. Last month, the State Department lowered the travel advisory for the country to Level 2 - “exercise increased caution” - after three detained Americans were released.
Since Abercrombie & Kent resumed operations for mainland China in April 2023, demand has been strong, Hub said. The number of guests booked on its China & the Yangtze trip is up by 1,900 percent compared with last year.
“It’s picking up faster than most people expected,” Hub said.
Even before the new visa announcement, Catherine Heald, founder and chief executive of Remote Lands, which specializes in trips to Asia, has been seeing “more and more interest” in trips to China.
“It’s nice to see China coming back,” Heald said.
The Washington Post