Port Visa and Regional Visa-Free Entry Policies
- Port Visa
According to the Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People’s Republic of China, any foreign national seeking to enter China urgently for humanitarian reasons, having been invited to the country for urgent business or rush repair work, or for any other important reason, and holding materials that prove the competent department’s consent on his/her application for a visa at a port, can apply for a port visa at a port visa authority authorized by the Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as port visa authorities) at any of the ports designated by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China for this purpose. Travel agencies organizing inbound tourism in accordance with relevant state regulations may apply at the port visa authorities for group visas.
Every foreign national applying at a port visa authority must submit a passport or any other international travel document together with the materials relevant to the purpose of the application, go through all procedures in accordance with the requirements of the port visa authority in charge, and enter China through the port where the application is made. Each visa issued by a port visa authority shall be valid for a single entry with a duration of stay that does not exceed 30 days.
- Regional Visa-Free Entry Policies
China’s regional visa-free entry policies can be divided into four categories:
- Visa-free Policy for Foreign Nationals Entering Guangdong Province from Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR in Groups
Foreign nationals as part of tourist groups organized by travel agencies based in Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR, who are holding ordinary passports and traveling to the nine mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area and Shantou, can stay up to a maximum of 144 hours without visas. Their stay is limited to the following cities: Dongguan, Foshan, Guangzhou, Huizhou, Jiangmen, Shantou, Shenzhen, Zhaoqing, Zhongshan, and Zhuhai. They must enter and exit China through an open port in one of these ten cities together with their groups, and their stay periods must not exceed the maximum allotted time of 144 hours.
- Visa-free Policy for Entering Guilin City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region for Tourist Groups from ASEAN Countries
The tourist groups from the 10 member states (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) of ASEAN, which are organized and received by qualified travel agencies in China, can enter and exit China without visas via Guilin Liangjiang International Airport in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Tourists in this case are restricted to the city of Guilin, and their stay periods must not exceed the maximum allotted time of 144 hours.
III. Visa-free Policy for Foreigners Entering China through Cruise Ports in Shanghai Municipality
Foreign tourist groups organized and received by qualified travel agencies in China are eligible to enter China in groups without visas through the cruise ports in Shanghai Municipality and travel by the concerned cruise ship to tour and exit China. Tourists in this case are restricted to Shanghai Municipality, Tianjin Municipality, and other coastal cities in Hebei, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan provinces where the ship docks at, the neighboring cities of the ports (within the provincial administrative regions), and Beijing Municipality, to a maximum of 15 days.
- Visa-free Policy for Entering Hainan Province
Ordinary passport holders from 59 countries are eligible to enter China through any open port in Hainan in tourist groups organized by travel agencies, at the invitation of inviting entities in China, or independently, and must stay within the administrative area of Hainan Province to a maximum of 30 days. Countries eligible for visa-free entry in this case include Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine.
Information comes from the National Immigration Administration（Policy Interpretation_National Immigration Administration (nia.gov.cn)）