What is the 240-hour visa-free transit scheme in China?
Nationals of 57 countries can enter China for up to 240 hours, or 10 days, without a visa if they are genuinely travelling on to a third country. You need an onward ticket with a confirmed seat and departure inside the 240 hours, and you enter through one of the 65 designated ports, staying inside the 24 permitted provincial-level regions. The permit is free and issued on arrival, cross-province travel is allowed within those areas, and work, study and journalism are excluded.
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The transit scheme is the most useful route for nationalities that are not on China’s unilateral visa-free list, including United States citizens. The essential condition is that it is real transit: you cannot arrive from and return to the same country, and you must hold a confirmed onward ticket to a third country or region departing within the 240 hours.
The stay clock starts at 00:00 on the day after you arrive, and the 10 days are counted inside the permitted areas, where you may cross provincial borders. Work, study and news reporting are not covered by any visa-free scheme.
Numbers published for this scheme have risen through 2026, and older official pages still show earlier totals, so confirm the current figures for your nationality in our entry guide and against the National Immigration Administration before booking.