Visa-free entry: who qualifies, and until when

4 of 4 applicable checks supportedEvidence reviewed 12 Nov 2026 · not a China Checked field test · How evidence checks work

Short answer

Eligible ordinary-passport holders can visit for up to 30 days for the permitted purposes. Check the NIA country list and the current notice for your own passport. The cited general extension covers entry through 31 December 2026; the Russian notice runs through 31 December 2027. Do not apply one expiry date to every nationality.

Applies to holders of ordinary passports from the listed countries. Diplomatic, service and emergency passports, and stays longer than 30 days, follow other rules.

Evidence behind these checks

Online evidence review; not a China Checked field test. 2026-11-12

  1. Official rules Evidence verified

    NIA and embassy notices establish nationality, passport type, purposes and validity constraints.

    Unilateral visa-exemption eligibility list — National Immigration Administration · 2026-02-17
    Passport eligibility, purposes and policy validity — Embassy of China in The Bahamas
    Embassy FAQ: nationalities, validity dates and entry documents — Chinese Embassy in Sweden · 2026-05-27

    Scope and limits: Source-backed requirements and supported routes; not a successful transaction by China Checked.

  2. Procedure and interface Evidence verified

    Official notices specify the documents and eligibility to check before travelling; the traveller still undergoes border inspection.

    Passport eligibility, purposes and policy validity — Embassy of China in The Bahamas
    Unilateral visa-exemption eligibility list — National Immigration Administration · 2026-02-17
    Embassy FAQ: nationalities, validity dates and entry documents — Chinese Embassy in Sweden · 2026-05-27

    Scope and limits: Source-backed requirements and supported routes; not a successful transaction by China Checked.

  3. Foreign-passport requirements Evidence verified

    Eligibility explicitly requires an ordinary passport from a covered nationality; it is not an account-registration test.

    Unilateral visa-exemption eligibility list — National Immigration Administration · 2026-02-17
    Passport eligibility, purposes and policy validity — Embassy of China in The Bahamas
    Embassy FAQ: nationalities, validity dates and entry documents — Chinese Embassy in Sweden · 2026-05-27

    Scope and limits: Source-backed requirements and supported routes; not a successful transaction by China Checked.

  4. Payment route Not applicable

    Visa-free entry itself has no ticket-purchase or card-payment step.

    Scope and limits: Not counted as a completed payment test, and excluded from the denominator.

  5. Entry or use requirements Evidence verified

    NIA reports actual visa-free admissions in 2026, establishing that these policies are operational.

    Actual visa-free entries during Spring Festival 2026 — National Immigration Administration · 2026-02-26

    Scope and limits: Aggregate data includes multiple visa-free schemes; eligibility for a specific passport still depends on its own notice and inspection.

Length of stay
Up to 30 days
Official rule
Valid until
Varies by passport; see the cited notice
Official rule
Russian passports
Until 31 December 2027
Official rule
Extension into 2027
No general 2027 renewal is assumed here; use the passport-specific official notice.
Secondary report

Steps

How to tell it worked

A red seal means the stated requirement or route has sufficient supporting evidence. It does not mean our team registered, paid or travelled. Official instructions can establish supported requirements; a live form alone does not prove a successful card settlement. Independent checks may remain incomplete, and not-applicable items are excluded from the total.

Evidence behind these checks

If it fails

Your country is not on the list

You need a visa, unless you qualify for visa-free transit, which has its own rules. We have not yet written the transit guide.

Your trip runs past 31 December 2026

The policy has been renewed each year so far, usually with an announcement in early November, but no extension into 2027 had been announced when we last looked. Plan for a visa as the fallback.

You plan to stay more than 30 days

Visa-free entry does not cover it. Apply for a visa before you travel.

Every fact on this page

Each fact has its own link, so you can point to exactly what you are relying on.

Visa-free entry allows a stay of no more than 30 days.

Official rule Chinese embassy notice on the extension of the unilateral visa-free policy · read 10 Nov 2026

It covers business, tourism, family visits, exchanges and transit.

Official rule Chinese embassy notice · read 10 Nov 2026

It applies to holders of ordinary passports from the listed countries.

Official rule Chinese embassy notice · read 10 Nov 2026

The cited general extension notice sets entry eligibility through 31 December 2026 for the countries it covers; country-specific notices can differ.

Official rule State Council news release, 4 Nov 2025 · embassy notice

Travellers who do not meet the conditions must get a visa before travelling.

Official rule Chinese embassy notice · read 10 Nov 2026

For Russian passport holders, visa-free entry was extended to 31 December 2027.

Official rule Official source · 2026-11-12

The cited general notice still states 31 December 2026; it is not evidence that every nationality has that expiry date or that a future renewal is guaranteed.

Secondary report Our search of official and news sources on 10 Nov 2026

Sources

Source checked 1 Source checked 2 Source checked 3 Embassy of China, Notice on the Extension of the Unilateral Visa-Free PolicyState Council, China to extend unilateral visa-free policy, 4 Nov 2025

Changes to this page

We compared the NIA eligibility list with embassy notices. Expiry dates depend on the passport: the cited general extension notice gives 31 December 2026, while the 20 May 2026 Russian notice gives 31 December 2027. The list alone is not an expiry-date table. No registration, payment or border crossing was performed; check the notice for your own nationality.

Page drafted from official notices. Checked again for an extension into 2027: none announced.

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