Sources

We use official Chinese government, embassy and consular sources only.

NIA – Visa-Free Transit Policies (updated 2026-08-20), checked 2026-10-17
NIA – Eligible Ports and Permitted Stay Areas table (image), checked 2026-10-17
NIA Announcement No. 4 of 2026 (Kyrgyzstan & Vietnam added, 2026-08-20), checked 2026-10-17
NIA – List of Countries Covered by Unilateral Visa Exemption (as of 2026-02-17), checked 2026-10-17
Chinese Embassy in Switzerland – FAQs on Visa-free Entry (2026-08-19), checked 2026-10-17
gov.cn – List of mutual visa exemption agreements (2025-12-03), checked 2026-10-17
Chinese Visa Application Service Center – Mutual visa exemption list, ordinary passports (2025-07-15), checked 2026-10-17
MFA Consular Service – 中外互免签证协定一览表 (List of mutual visa exemption agreements, updated 2026-05-29), checked 2026-10-17
Chinese Visa Application Service Center (Mumbai) – Comprehensive Mutual Visa Exemption Agreements, 24 countries (2026-08-28), checked 2026-10-17
NIA – Regional visa-free entry policies (Hainan 30-day, 61 countries), checked 2026-10-17
Hainan Provincial Government – Hainan 30-day visa-free policy & ports (updated 2026-08-20), checked 2026-10-17
Chinese Embassy in the US – Payment guide PDF (2026-07), checked 2026-10-17
gov.cn – Payment service guide for overseas visitors, checked 2026-10-17

Notes

240-hour transit: cross-province travel allowed within permitted areas of the 24 provinces for max 240 hours (NIA table footnote).
Stay is counted from 00:00 the day after entry (unilateral policy, NIA).
Hainan 30-day visa-free entry (61 countries) is included; Hainan open ports per provincial government: Haikou Meilan, Sanya Phoenix, Qionghai Boao airports; Yangpu, Haikou, Qinglan, Basuo, Sanya seaports.
Port table checked row by row on 2026-10-17 against the NIA image (part/194194.png): all 65 port names, provinces and permitted stay areas match; only spelling aligned (Su'nan Shuofang).
24-hour transit without visa available to all nationalities if staying in port restricted area.