National Immigration Administration — Visa-Free Transit Policies
Eligibility, maximum stay, the third-country-or-region rule, and the list of 65 ports across 24 provinces.
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Trust
Sources
This page lists the official documents behind our transit guidance, what we take from each one, and when we last checked it.
National Immigration Administration — Countries Covered by Unilateral Visa-Exemption Policies
Deciding whether ordinary visa-free entry is a better path than a transit check.
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National Immigration Administration — Mutual Visa Exemption Agreements
Passports whose entry path comes from a bilateral agreement rather than a unilateral policy.
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National Immigration Administration — Official Arrival Card Filing Service
The only government submission channel, and it is free. We link to it instead of reproducing the form.
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National Immigration Administration — Beware of Fraudulent Arrival Card Websites
The basis for the guidance on our arrival card page: the card is free, do not pay anyone.
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State Council (English) — China's 240-hour visa-free transit policy
The government's English wording, for when the immigration notice and our summary need to be compared side by side.
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IATA — Timatic travel documentation
Only to state one industry fact: check-in staff look up travel-document requirements in IATA Timatic. We do not reproduce any Timatic content.
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Primary official sources
ChinaTransit prioritizes official immigration, consular, port, airport, carrier, and government publication channels when interpreting transit rules.
The registered documents above are the official sources currently tied to our transit eligibility, stay-limit, route, and port claims.
How snapshots work
A policy snapshot date records when a page, tool, or data set was checked against known sources. It is an honesty marker, not a live-update promise.
When a rule changes, older pages may remain stale until manually reviewed. Travelers should always re-check official sources before booking or departure.
Policy sources vs commercial sources
Policy sources are used for eligibility, allowed stay, port, route, and official procedure claims. Commercial sources are used only for logistics such as hotels, connectivity, booking, payments, or transport planning.
Commercial providers, affiliate partners, and booking platforms do not override official eligibility sources.
Useful official channel types
The registered documents above are the sources currently tied to site claims. The channel types below are additional places travelers can use to verify route-specific details.
- National Immigration Administration policy notices.
- Chinese embassy and consulate notices in the traveler's country.
- Official airport, port, rail, customs, or border inspection notices.
- Official digital arrival card or government service portals when available.
Report outdated information
If you see a mismatch, use the contact page and include the ChinaTransit page, the official source, and the date or screenshot context where possible.
Do not send sensitive personal documents when reporting a source issue.