China's 30-Day Visa-Free Entry Expires 31 December 2026 for 48 of the 50 Countries
China's unilateral visa-free scheme lets ordinary passport holders from 50 countries enter for 30 days. It is a trial with an end date, and the end date is not the same for everyone: Brunei has none, Russia runs to 31 December 2027, and the other 48 countries run to 31 December 2026. This is the scheme's own rules read off the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' bilingual FAQ on 8 August 2026 — how the 30 days are counted, why multiple entries are allowed, which passports do not qualify, and the one question about January 2027 that nobody has answered.
When does China's 30-day visa-free entry expire?
For 48 of the 50 countries, on 31 December 2026. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sets three different end dates: Brunei has no expiry date at all, Russia's waiver runs to 31 December 2027, and everyone else's runs to 31 December 2026. That is under five months from now, and no announcement has been made about what follows it. If your trip lands in 2027, this is a date to plan around rather than assume away.
The MFA's own wording, from its bilingual FAQ page:
目前，中方对文莱持普通护照人员的免签政策未设施行期限，对俄罗斯持普通护照人员的免签政策施行至2027年12月31日，对其余48国持普通护照人员的免签政策施行至2026年12月31日。
The English on the same page: Brunei, no expiry date; Russia, in effect until 31 December 2027; other 48 countries, in effect until 31 December 2026. We read that page on 8 August 2026.
Two things follow. The dates are set per cohort and can differ, so "the scheme expires" was never one date. And a cohort's date arriving does not tell you what replaces it — an extension, a new list, or nothing. Nobody outside the Chinese government knows, and any English page that tells you confidently is guessing.
Which countries are on the 30-day visa-free list?
Fifty, and the MFA lists them in one sentence: Brunei, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Australia, Poland, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Slovenia, Slovakia, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Andorra, Monaco, Liechtenstein, the Republic of Korea, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Malta, Estonia, Latvia, Japan, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Russia, Sweden, Canada and the United Kingdom.
The United States is not on it. Neither is Mexico, India, or most of Africa and Southeast Asia. If your passport is not on that list, this scheme is not your route — the separate 240-hour visa-free transit scheme may be, but only when you are genuinely passing through to a third country. The two schemes are different regimes with different country lists, and conflating them is the single most common error in English China advice. You can check both at once on our nationality checker.
How are the 30 days counted?
From the day after you enter, and then 30 consecutive calendar days. The MFA states it directly: the duration is calculated from the next day of entry and lasts 30 calendar days. So an arrival on 3 March gives you until the end of 1 April, not 31 March. Calendar days, not working days, and no pause for weekends or holidays.
This matters more than it sounds, because overstaying in China is not a formality — it is a fine, and it goes on your record for future entries. If your dates are tight, count them on a calendar rather than in your head.
Can you enter more than once on the visa waiver?
Yes. The MFA says eligible travellers can use the waiver multiple times, and that there is currently no restriction on the number of entries or on total days of stay. The same answer warns that you must not engage in activities inconsistent with your stated purpose of entry, so the absence of a numeric cap is not an invitation to live in China on repeated 30-day runs.
Two words there are doing real work. "Currently" is the ministry flagging its own discretion to change this, and the purpose condition is what a border officer actually applies.
If you are planning that pattern, understand what you are relying on: an unrestricted policy that the issuing ministry has explicitly described as the current position.
Which passports do not qualify?
Only an ordinary passport works, valid for at least the length of your intended stay. The MFA excludes travel documents, temporary passports and emergency passports by name — holders of those cannot enter visa-free even if their nationality is on the list.
This catches people who lost a passport abroad and are travelling on an emergency document issued by their embassy. Nationality is not the test on its own; the document type is a separate test, and it is applied at the border.
What can you actually do on a 30-day visa-free entry?
Five purposes qualify: business, tourism, visiting family or friends, exchanges and visits, and transit. The MFA also confirms three specific cases that people assume are excluded but are not — sports competitions, conferences and exhibitions, and study tours including summer and winter camps all count, provided the stay stays under 30 days.
Excluded, explicitly: work, study, and news reporting. Those need a visa regardless of your passport.
The border check is real. The MFA states that border inspection examines your purpose of entry and will refuse entry where the stated purpose does not match the scheme. It recommends carrying documents consistent with your purpose — an invitation letter, air tickets, accommodation bookings. Carry them even if you expect never to be asked, because the cost of having them is nothing and the cost of not having them is your trip.
Do you have to fly in, and do you have to come from your own country?
No to both. The waiver applies at all sea, land and air ports open to foreign nationals, except where a law or bilateral arrangement says otherwise, so a land crossing or a ferry counts. And eligible travellers can depart for China from any country or region — there is no requirement to fly from your country of citizenship.
If you arrive in your own vehicle there is a separate layer: bringing private transport across the border has its own customs and permit procedures under Chinese law, and the visa waiver does nothing about those.
Can you extend a 30-day visa-free stay?
Not as a waiver. The MFA's position is that if you plan to stay more than 30 days you should get the appropriate visa from a Chinese embassy or consulate before you travel. If you are already in China visa-free and a legitimate reason to stay longer arises, you apply to the exit-entry administration of the local Public Security Bureau for a stay permit — a discretionary application, not a renewal you are entitled to.
Do not build an itinerary on that application succeeding. If you know in advance you need 45 days, get a visa. The mechanics of the PSB application, office by office, are in our guide to extending your stay without leaving China.
What happens if your trip crosses into January 2027?
This is the question the official FAQ does not answer, and we would rather say so than invent a reading. The MFA states the policy is "in effect until 31 December 2026" for the 48-country cohort. It does not say whether that date governs the entry or the stay — that is, whether someone who enters visa-free on 20 December 2026 keeps their 30 days into January, or whether the permission lapses with the scheme.
The reading that the entry date is what matters is the more natural one, and it is how entry permissions usually work. But it is a reading, not a published rule, and the consequence of being wrong is being out of status in a country that fines for it. Until this is clarified, the safe shapes are: finish a visa-free trip inside 2026, or hold a visa for anything that crosses the boundary.
If you find an official clarification, tell us — the correction form at the bottom of any city page reaches us directly, and this is exactly the sort of thing we would rather fix in days than in months.
Where to check before you fly
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs consular service, FAQs on visa-free entry into China — bilingual, and the source of the expiry dates, the counting rule and the excluded purposes on this page
- National Immigration Administration, unilateral visa-free country list — the list itself
- Our own machine-readable version of both schemes is at /api/facts, and every claim above was re-read from the two official pages on 8 August 2026.
Related
- Do you need a visa for China? — the wider picture including visa types and the application process
- The 240-hour visa-free transit scheme — the other visa-free route, and the only one for US passports
- Extending your stay without leaving China — what the PSB counter actually asks for
- Hotel registration for foreigners — the obligation that starts within 24 hours of arrival, visa-free or not