144-Hour Free Entry/Vsa-Free Travel/Trip to China-Chinese New Policy

In a groundbreaking decision today that will certainly blow 72-hour visa-free travel out of the water, the State Public Security Ministry announced that Shanghai and neighboring Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces will begin offering 144-hour visa-free transit to foreigners from 51 countries beginning later this week.

 

Starting January 30, travelers entering the country from Shanghai’s two airports, Hangzhou's Xiaoshan International Airport and Nanjing's Lukou International Airport will be able to stay in those cities and provinces for up to six days without a visa. They'll also be able to exit the country from any of those four airports.

 

The service will be offered to passport holders from the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Brunei, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia and Albania.

 

Shanghai, Zhejiang's capital Hangzhou and Jiangsu's capital Nanjing have allowed 72-hour visa-free entry for international transit passengers since 2013.

Under the previous policy, transit passengers could only enter through the airports of the three cities and were not allowed to travel to areas outside of the city.

Apart from doubling the time of their transit stay, the new policy also allows international passengers to travel to all three provincial areas in the Yangtze River Delta, an economic powerhouse in China.

The move signals intensified efforts to increase international tourism and commercial and trade cooperation as well as the flow of talent, the ministry said in a statement.