Since 2013, approved by the State Council of China, a 72-Hour Visa-Free transit policy has been implemented in 15 cities' airports, including Beijing, Dalian,Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Sheanyang, Dalian, Hangzhou, Guilin, Kunming, Xi’an, Xiamen, Harbin, Wuhan and Tianjin. The policy will benefit passengers from 51 countries who hold valid international travel documents and joint way tickets with confirmed dates and seats that plan to departure for third countries/regions within 72 hours.

Countries Qualified for the 72-Hour Visa-Free Transit Policy (51)
1. European member countries of Schengen Visa Scheme (24)
Austria, Belgium, Czech, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovak, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland

2. Other European countries (13)
Russia, the U.K., Ireland, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania.

3. American countries (6)
the United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile

4. Oceania countries (2)
Australia, New Zealand

5. Asian countries (6)
Republic of Korea, Japan, Singapore, Brunei, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar

Restrictions of the 72-hour Visa-free Transit:
* This regulation does not apply to passengers who travel on a return flight (e.g., USA - Beijing - USA), which means the destination and place of departure can not be in the same country.
* The 72-hour visa-free stay only applies to transit via Airport. Passengers by train or any other vehicles should still apply for a visa in advance.
* Visitors are not allowed to leave the transit city to other cities during the 72-hour visa-free period. They can only travel around in the transit city (or the province).
* If visitors are unable to depart on time due to unavoidable reasons, such as flight cancellation or treatment of sudden disease, they need to apply for a visa from Municipal Public Security Bureau (PSB).