China Travel Check

Data report · Quarterly

The state of China travel, October 2026

Everything below is sourced from official announcements and re-checked when policies change. This is the page we update so the rest of the site can stay honest.

22.91M

Foreign entries, H1 2026

+20.4% year-on-year. 77.7% entered visa-free.

50

Unilateral visa-free countries

Up from 6 in Dec 2023. UK and Canada joined Nov 2025.

240h

Visa-free transit window

54 countries, since Dec 2024 — up from 144 hours.

$5,000

Per-transaction payment cap

Foreign cards on Alipay/WeChat. Was $1,000 until 2025.

How we got here

  1. 2023.12

    Visa-free trial begins with 6 countries (France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Malaysia).

  2. 2024

    Expansion waves across the EU, Oceania, Asia. 144-hour transit still the norm.

  3. 2024.12.17

    Transit visa-free extended to 240 hours; travel zones expanded to 24 provinces.

  4. 2025

    11 more countries added, incl. Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Gulf states, Russia, Sweden. Payment limits raised 5×.

  5. 2025.11

    UK and Canada join the unilateral visa-free list — the two biggest holdouts resolved.

  6. 2025.12

    Hainan free-trade port closed-loop operation; 86-country island visa-free in effect.

  7. 2026

    50-country list confirmed at scale; 77%+ of entries now visa-free. Repeat visits and second-tier cities growing fastest.

Sources

Figures as reported by the cited agencies. When an official number and our field experience disagree, the guide pages say so explicitly.