Requirements for Foreign Nationals to Appl...

The National Immigration Administration (NIA) has announced that the airport of Zhengzhou has implemented the 144-hour visa-free transit policy. The permitted stay area for foreign nationals entering China through this airport is the administrative region of Henan Province. Eight additional permitted stay areas (including cities and autonomous prefectures) for foreign nationals entering Yunnan Province under the 144-hour visa-free transit policy have also been designated in addition to Kunming, namely Lijiang, Yuxi, Pu'er, Chuxiong, Dali, Xishuangbanna, Honghe and Wenshan. This time, three exit-entry ports, namely Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport in Henan Province, and Lijiang Sanyi International Airport and the exit-entry port of Mohan Railway Station in Yunnan Province, have been designated to implement the 144-hour visa-free transit policy. All the aforementioned changes have been effective July 15.

It is reported that, so far, NIA has implemented the 144-hour visa-free transit policy at 37 exit-entry ports in Beijing Municipality, Tianjin Municipality, Shijiazhuang and Qinhuangdao (Hebei Province), Shenyang and Dalian (Liaoning Province), Shanghai Municipality, Nanjing and Lianyungang (Jiangsu Province), Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wenzhou and Zhoushan (Zhejiang Province), Zhengzhou (Henan Province), Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Jieyang (Guangdong Province), Qingdao (Shandong Province), Chongqing Municipality, Chengdu (Sichuan Province), Xi'an (Shaanxi Province), Xiamen (Fujian Province), Wuhan (Hubei Province), Kunming, Lijiang and Xishuangbanna (Yunnan Province), etc. Citizens of 54 countries (including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, etc.), who hold valid international travel documents and confirmed connecting tickets for flights, trains and ships departing for third countries within 144 hours after having arrived in China, are eligible to transit through any of the 37 aforementioned ports without visas. Within their stay periods, they can travel, engage in business activities, visit their friends and relatives, and engage in other short-term activities (subject to the relevant provisions if applicable to a mutual visa exemption agreements signed with China or China's unilateral visa exemption).

According to an official of NIA, the 72/144-hour visa-free transit policies effective in January 2013 are of great importance in China's high-level opening-up, facilitated personnel exchanges between China and other countries and regions, and promoted broader cooperation. The latest expansion of the scope of the 144-hour visa-free transit policy, which involves two provinces, will provide more options for foreign nationals to travel and trade in China. Moving forward, NIA will continue to optimize the extant visa-free transit policies and intensify the institutional opening-up of immigration management. NIA also aims to welcome more foreign nationals to China with a more inclusive gesture and contribute to the greater opening-up and high-quality development of China.

Editor: Nie Yang