China 30-Day Visa-Free Entry: Sourcing Window 2026

China 30-Day Visa-Free Entry: Sourcing Window 2026

China's unilateral visa-free entry policy currently runs until 2026-12-31 — a fixed window, not a permanent arrangement. For importers in the eligible countries, that date is the single most important thing on the sourcing calendar this year.

If you are planning a buying trip to Yiwu, the practical question is not whether you can enter China without a visa, but how much time you have left to use that route, and what to do before the window closes.

Which Buyers Can Use the 30-Day Visa-Free Route?

The 30-day unilateral visa-free arrangement covers 11 countries, and it is important to understand that these are not all the same type of arrangement:

Unilateral visa-free (9 countries): the four GCC states of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain, plus the five South American countries of Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Uruguay.

Mutual visa-exemption agreements (2 countries): the UAE and Qatar. These fall under bilateral agreements rather than China's unilateral policy.

Under the common conditions, holders of ordinary passports travelling to China for business, tourism, visiting relatives or exchange visits — or in transit — for no more than 30 days may enter without a visa. The duration of stay is counted from midnight of the day after entry.

Buyers who do not meet the visa-free conditions still need to obtain a Chinese visa before travelling.

One point that surprises many first-time buyers: visa-free entry does not require an invitation letter. The invitation letter belongs to the M (business) visa application process and is unrelated to visa-free entry.

The 2026-12-31 Deadline: What It Actually Means

The policy is currently extended until 2026-12-31. This is a time-limited arrangement, and it should not be treated as permanent.

For a sourcing buyer, the consequence is straightforward and practical: if you want to inspect goods, meet suppliers and negotiate in person without going through a visa application, your trip needs to happen inside that window. A trip planned for early 2027 cannot be assumed to enjoy the same conditions.

What to do now, in order:

1. Confirm your eligibility against the official list before booking anything. The National Immigration Administration publishes the unilateral visa-free country list.
2. Check your passport type. The arrangement applies to ordinary passport holders.
3. Keep the trip inside 30 days. The stay is counted from midnight of the day after entry.
4. Plan the sourcing sequence before you fly — see the video-inspection option below.

The 240-Hour Transit Route: A Separate Track

Do not confuse the 30-day visa-free list with the 240-hour transit visa-free arrangement. They are two different tracks and neither includes the other.

The 240-hour transit visa-free policy applies to 57 countries: 40 in Europe, 6 in the Americas, 2 in Oceania and 9 in Asia, following the most recent expansion on 2026-08-20 which added Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam. The permitted stay is 240 hours (10 days), counted from midnight of the day after entry, and overstaying is not permitted.

Yiwu Airport is one of the applicable ports of entry for this track. Within Zhejiang Province, transit visa-free travellers may move across the entire provincial administrative area, and cross-province travel is permitted across 24 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. Across China there are 65 open ports designated for this arrangement as of the 2026-08-20 count, six of them in Zhejiang: Hangzhou Xiaoshan, Ningbo Lishe, Wenzhou Longwan, Yiwu Airport, Wenzhou Port (passenger) and Zhoushan Port (passenger).

There is a hard documentary condition: you must hold a confirmed connecting ticket to a third country or region, with a fixed date and seat within the 240-hour period. You also need a valid passport (at least three months' validity), the temporary entry card, and you must submit to border inspection. Without a confirmed onward ticket arranged before entry, the temporary entry procedure cannot be completed.

"Transit" here has a specific meaning: your departure country and destination country must be different — departure country ≠ China ≠ destination country.

Business activities are permitted under this track; work, study and news reporting require a visa obtained in advance, and activities inconsistent with the stated purpose of entry are not allowed.

For South American buyers specifically: Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Chile are on the 240-hour transit list; Peru and Uruguay are not on that list, but they do fall under the 30-day unilateral visa-free arrangement. Mexico has no 30-day visa-free arrangement, which makes the transit route its only visa-free path to China.

A Note for African Buyers

Africa is not represented on either list. No African country appears among the 57 countries covered by the 240-hour transit visa-free arrangement, and no African country is on the 30-day unilateral visa-free list.

This does not close the route. African buyers travel to China on a business (M) visa in the normal way, and the invitation letter for that application is usually issued by the buyer's Chinese supplier or partner. Yiwu remains fully open to African buyers — the requirement is a visa, nothing more.

Practical Preparation Before You Fly

See the goods before you commit to a ticket. We can arrange a live video call so you can see products and packing directly on camera — at the Yiwu market, in our warehouse, or at a partner factory. The call must be booked in advance and you send your list of items to view beforehand, so we can prepare. This is useful precisely because it lets you confirm the goods and the setting before deciding whether to travel.

Understand what we are. Yiwu Ruiheart Trading Co., Ltd. (brand: Novel Home Goods) is a sourcing agent and export trader based in Yiwu, Zhejiang. We are not a factory, we have no production lines of our own, and we do not manufacture products. Our role is to source in China according to buyer requirements, compare prices, inspect goods and arrange export.

Quotations are issued on an FOB Yiwu, tax-excluded basis.

We do not act as a freight forwarder. We do not book space, issue transport documents, collect freight charges, handle customs clearance or operate a consolidation warehouse. You appoint your own freight forwarder, and freight rates and transit times should be confirmed with that forwarder — we do not quote freight or promise transit times. Our role in logistics is limited to preparing export documents on FOB Yiwu terms and coordinating with the forwarder you designate.

Visits are by appointment. If you plan to come to Yiwu, send us your travel dates and the products or factories you want to see; we reply and confirm arrangements before your trip, and tell you whether to go to our office address or our warehouse address depending on what you want to view. We do not hold a photo gallery of the premises — the live video call is the alternative.

Verify us independently. China's official enterprise credit information system allows you to check a company's registration, administrative licences, annual reports, administrative penalties and abnormal-operations status by entering its name or unified social credit code. This is a practical way to confirm who you are dealing with before transferring money.

If Something Goes Wrong

For B2B disputes, note that China's 12315 consumer complaint platform is designed for consumers purchasing for personal living needs; purchases for resale or business purposes may fall outside its acceptance boundary, and B2B contract disputes are primarily handled through mediation, arbitration and litigation.

The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) provides foreign-related commercial dispute resolution services, and its mediation centre accepts cases where either both parties apply jointly or one party applies alone. Mediation covers trade, transport, logistics, insurance and other commercial fields.

Planning Your Trip

The window is finite. If your market is on the 30-day list, the visa-free route is available now and runs to 2026-12-31. If you are on the 240-hour transit list, the documentary requirements — especially the confirmed onward ticket — need to be arranged before you fly.

Whether you are sourcing storage racks, utility carts, cleaning appliances or small home electricals, the sequence is the same: confirm your entry route, book a video inspection, then decide on travel.

Contact us for a quotation, or to arrange a video call or a visit to Yiwu. Commission depends on order size — contact us for a quote.

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Policy Status and Validity

• Unilateral visa-free entry (30 days): currently extended until 2026-12-31. Source: National Immigration Administration country list; China Consular Service Network extension notice. Query date: 2026-09-16.
• 240-hour transit visa-free (57 countries): no expiry date stated in the official sources; described here as currently in force. Source: Shanghai Municipal Government Foreign Affairs Office reposting the National Immigration Administration announcement. Query date: 2026-09-16.
• These are two separate tracks and neither includes the other.

Policy status

• This arrangement is currently in effect until 31 December 2026 (2026-12-31; policy checked 16 September 2026).

Policies can change. Please confirm with your local Chinese embassy or consulate before travelling.

Sources

• F-VISA-0012 — China Consular Service Network (MFA) · National Immigration Administration (NIA) · https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741440/n741577/c1731154/content.html · https://cs.mfa.gov.cn/zytz/202607/t20260721_11988625.html — checked 2026-09-16
• F-T-0010 — Chinese Embassy/Consulate in Montreal · https://montreal.china-consulate.gov.cn/zjfw/lszj/fhqz/cjwd2/202505/t20250530_11637915.htm — checked 2026-09-16
• F-T-0001 — National Immigration Administration (NIA) · Shanghai Municipal Foreign Affairs Office · The State Council of the PRC (gov.cn) · https://wsb.sh.gov.cn/ztzl/lstx/20260820/f4b8510709544ce8a06ef9978055bed9.html — checked 2026-09-16
• F-T-0003 — Chinese Embassy/Consulate in Montreal · https://montreal.china-consulate.gov.cn/zjfw/lszj/fhqz/cjwd2/202505/t20250530_11637915.htm — checked 2026-09-16
• F-T-0002 — Zhejiang Provincial Government · Chinese Embassy/Consulate in Montreal · https://www.zj.gov.cn/art/2024/12/18/art_1229823372_60250059.html · https://montreal.china-consulate.gov.cn/zjfw/lszj/fhqz/cjwd2/202505/t20250530_11637915.htm — checked 2026-09-16
• F-T-0011 — Shanghai Municipal Foreign Affairs Office · Zhejiang Provincial Government · https://wsb.sh.gov.cn/ztzl/lstx/20260820/f4b8510709544ce8a06ef9978055bed9.html · https://www.zj.gov.cn/art/2024/12/18/art_1229823372_60250059.html — checked 2026-09-16
• F-T-0009 — China Consular Service Network (MFA) · Shanghai Municipal Foreign Affairs Office · https://wsb.sh.gov.cn/ztzl/lstx/20260820/f4b8510709544ce8a06ef9978055bed9.html — checked 2026-09-16
• F-VISA-0019 — Official source (visa policy) · https://cs.mfa.gov.cn/zytz/202607/t20260721_11988625.html · https://sa.china-embassy.gov.cn/lsfw/lsbtz/202505/t20250528_11635542.htm · https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/wjbzwfwpt/kzx/tzgg/202504/t20250414_11594222.html · https://cs.mfa.gov.cn/lgk1/201812/t20181214_831234.shtml · https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741440/n741577/c1731154/content.html — checked 2026-09-16
• F-VISA-0013 — National Immigration Administration (NIA) · https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741440/n741577/c1731154/content.html · https://bio.visaforchina.cn/MES4_ZH/qianzhengyewu/jichuzhishi/banliliucheng/551660259878506497.html — checked 2026-09-16
• F-T-0004 — Chinese Embassy/Consulate in Montreal · https://montreal.china-consulate.gov.cn/zjfw/lszj/fhqz/cjwd2/202505/t20250530_11637915.htm — checked 2026-09-16
• F-T-0005 — Chinese Embassy/Consulate in Montreal · https://montreal.china-consulate.gov.cn/zjfw/lszj/fhqz/cjwd2/202505/t20250530_11637915.htm — checked 2026-09-16
• F-T-0006 — Chinese Embassy/Consulate in Montreal · https://montreal.china-consulate.gov.cn/zjfw/lszj/fhqz/cjwd2/202505/t20250530_11637915.htm — checked 2026-09-16
• F-T-0007 — Shanghai Municipal Foreign Affairs Office · https://wsb.sh.gov.cn/ztzl/lstx/20260820/f4b8510709544ce8a06ef9978055bed9.html — checked 2026-09-16
• F-SVC-0014 — Company confirmation (first-hand, verified with staff) — checked 2026-09-16
• F-SVC-0001 — Company confirmation (first-hand, verified with staff) — checked 2026-09-16
• F-SVC-0002 — Company confirmation (first-hand, verified with staff) — checked 2026-09-16
• F-SVC-0017 — Company confirmation (first-hand, verified with staff) — checked 2026-09-16
• F-SVC-0015 — Company confirmation (first-hand, verified with staff) — checked 2026-09-16
• F-TRUST-0001 — State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) · The State Council of the PRC (gov.cn) · https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2014-08/23/content_9038.htm · https://www.samr.gov.cn/zw/zfxxgk/fdzdgknr/fgs/art/2023/art_78b9a2a2399e4934b288da28e67e66ba.html · https://www.jiangmen.gov.cn/bmpd/jmsscjdglj/ztzl/kbqy/kbqyqjlct/content/post_2895884.html — checked 2026-09-16
• F-TRUST-0003 — The State Council of the PRC (gov.cn) · https://www.gov.cn/gongbao/2026/issue_12686/202604/content_7066102.html · http://www.yw.gov.cn/col/col1229449574/art/2026/art_c2cc5c1cb33347458e848f04fb7165f0.html — checked 2026-09-16
• F-TRUST-0004 — China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) · https://www.ccpit.org/italia/a/20230324/20230324k8hz.html · https://www.ccpit.org/ — checked 2026-09-16