China's 30-Day Visa-Free Entry: What Ends on 31 December 2026 — and What Does Not

Information current as of 2 November 2026. Visa rules can change at short notice. This page is an information summary only — it is not a visa decision for any individual traveller. Before you book, confirm your own situation with the Chinese embassy or consulate in your country, or with your airline.

The short answer

• For 48 countries, China's 30-day unilateral visa-free entry currently ends at 24:00 Beijing time on 31 December 2026.
• Russia is already extended to 31 December 2027. Brunei has no published end date. Neither is affected by the 31 December 2026 deadline.
• 29 countries with bilateral mutual visa-exemption treaties are not affected by this deadline at all — their arrangements run on separate terms.
• 240-hour visa-free transit is a different scheme, not a continuation of the 30-day policy. It has no 2026 end date and works under its own rules.
• As of 2 November 2026, no extension of the 30-day policy into 2027 has been announced for the 48 countries. Past renewals came in November, but that is a pattern, not a promise.

Shanghai, seen from the Bund. Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC0).

1. The deadline: 31 December 2026

China's unilateral visa-free policy lets holders of ordinary passports from 50 countries enter China without a visa for business, tourism, visiting family or friends, exchanges, or transit, for a stay of no more than 30 days (counted from the day after arrival). It does not cover work, study, or journalism — those always need a visa applied for in advance.

The current period for 48 of those 50 countries runs until 24:00 Beijing time on 31 December 2026. This end date was set by the extension notice of November 2025 (which also added Sweden from 10 November 2025), and the United Kingdom and Canada joined the list on 17 February 2026 with the same end date. The 48 include most of Europe, plus Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

What this means in practice:

• A trip that ends on or before 31 December 2026 is covered by the published rule.
• A trip that starts in 2027 is not yet covered by any published rule for these 48 countries. Unless an extension is announced, a visa will be needed.
• A stay that straddles the year end (entering in December 2026 and leaving in January 2027) is not addressed in any official notice we found. If your trip crosses the deadline, confirm with the Chinese embassy before you travel rather than assuming the 30 days will run past it.

2. The two exceptions inside the 50-country list

Russia — extended to 31 December 2027. China's Foreign Ministry announced on 20 May 2026 that visa-free entry for Russian citizens is extended to 31 December 2027. Russia is therefore not part of the 31 December 2026 deadline.

Brunei — no end date. Brunei appears on the same 30-day list, but no official notice sets an end date for its exemption. It is likewise unaffected by the 31 December 2026 deadline.

The Great Wall at Mutianyu. Photo: Lloyd Tudor, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

3. What the deadline does not touch: mutual visa-exemption treaties

Separate from the unilateral policy, China has bilateral mutual visa-exemption agreements covering ordinary passports with 29 countries. Because these are treaties signed by both governments, they do not run to the 31 December 2026 deadline and are not changed by it. They typically allow stays of up to 30 days per visit (some cap total stays at 90 days in any 180 days) for tourism, business, and family visits.

Well-known examples include Singapore (in force since 9 February 2024), Thailand (since 1 March 2024), Malaysia (since 17 July 2025), the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Serbia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. A few agreements carry special conditions, so travellers should confirm the exact terms for their own passport rather than relying on the headline count — published counts vary slightly (28–32) depending on whether restricted or partial agreements are included.

4. A different route: 240-hour visa-free transit

Beijing Capital International Airport, Terminal 3. Photo: Wikimedia Commons user 颐园居 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

The 240-hour (10-day) visa-free transit scheme is a separate mechanism. It is not an extension or continuation of the 30-day unilateral policy, and it has no 2026 end date.

How it works:

• Who: ordinary passport holders from 57 countries (55 originally, plus Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam added on 20 August 2026). The list includes the United States, Mexico, Indonesia, and Vietnam — passports that are *not* on the 30-day list — as well as many countries that are on both lists.
• What you must be doing: genuinely transiting through China to a third country or region. The country you arrive from and the country you depart to must be different — a round trip back to where you came from does not qualify. Hong Kong, China and Macao, China count as separate destinations from the mainland for this rule.
• Ticket: you must hold a confirmed onward ticket with a date and a seat, booked before you arrive, departing within 240 hours.
• Where: entry through one of 65 designated ports across 24 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities. Your exit port may differ from your entry port (for example, entering in Beijing and leaving from Shanghai). Travel is limited to the permitted areas — Xinjiang, Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Qinghai, Gansu, and Jilin are not covered.
• How the 240 hours are counted: from 00:00 on the day after you arrive, not from the moment you land.
• Passport validity: at least three months beyond your entry date.
• Purposes: tourism, business, and family visits are allowed; work, study, and journalism are not.

If your passport also qualifies for the 30-day policy or a mutual exemption, you may use those rules instead — they have no onward-ticket condition and no port restriction. The 240-hour route matters most for travellers whose passport is on the transit list but not on the 30-day list.

5. What about 2027?

As of 2 November 2026, no extension of the 30-day policy beyond 31 December 2026 has been announced for the 48 countries. The most recent status checks (late October 2026) and a fresh news check on 2 November 2026 found no new announcement.

China has renewed this scheme every year so far, each time with an announcement in November (November 2024, and 3 November 2025 for the current period). That points to November 2026 as the likely window for a decision — but it is a pattern, not a promise. Nobody outside the Chinese government knows whether the list will be renewed, trimmed, or changed.

If you are planning travel in 2027:

1. Watch for an official notice from China's Consular Service (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) or the National Immigration Administration — that is where any extension will appear first.
2. Until an extension is announced, treat a 2027 trip as needing a visa, and apply in good time.
3. If an extension is announced, it may not cover every country on the current list — check the new notice, not last year's.

6. Before you travel

• Confirm your passport is on the current list for the route you plan to use (30-day, mutual treaty, or 240-hour transit) — the three lists are different.
• Check that your purpose of travel is covered; work, study, and journalism need a visa under every route above.
• For 240-hour transit, have your confirmed onward ticket ready before you land — without it, border inspection cannot issue the temporary entry permit.
• If your stay would cross 31 December 2026, or your trip is in 2027, get confirmation from the Chinese embassy or consulate before booking.

Sources

• Chinese Embassy in Iceland, "Notice on the Extension of the Unilateral Visa-Free Policy," 4 November 2025 — 45 countries extended until 24:00 on 31 December 2026. Read the notice
• Chinese Embassy in Latvia, "Notice on Extending the Unilateral Visa-Free Policy" — extension to 31 December 2026, 30-day stay, listed purposes. Read the notice
• Russia's extension to 31 December 2027, announced 20 May 2026 by Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun, as reported by the Shanghai Municipal People's Government and summarised in: China Visa-Free Countries: 2026 List and 2027 Deadline (last checked 20 October 2026).
• Status of a 2027 extension for the 48 countries ("not yet" as of 24 October 2026; November renewal pattern): Will China Extend Visa-Free Entry to 2027? — re-checked against news on 2 November 2026, with no new announcement found.
• Mutual visa-exemption treaties (29 countries, ordinary passports; terms and the Ecuador note): China Mutual Visa Exemption: 29 Countries (2026 List) (reviewed 21 October 2026).
• 240-hour transit (57 countries, 65 ports, 24 regions, onward-ticket and counting rules; Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam added 20 August 2026, per the National Immigration Administration): 240-Hour Visa-Free Transit in China (last updated 10 September 2026).

*Information current as of 2 November 2026. Where sources disagreed (notably the exact count of mutual-treaty countries), this page follows the most recent dedicated lists and flags the disagreement rather than presenting a disputed figure as settled.*

Yunnan Private Schools Risk Penalties for Foreign Teacher Hiring 2027

Yunnan draft ties foreign teacher hiring compliance to private school inspections, with point deductions from Jan 1, 2027, consultation ends Nov 5, 2026.

Tags:

• Yunnan
• foreign teacher hiring
• private school inspection
• annual inspection
• point deduction

Source: OT-Team(G), 云南省教育厅

Yunnan has released what is believed to be China's first provincial-level proposal to explicitly incorporate foreign teacher employment compliance into private school inspection standards, drawing attention to the requirements schools must meet when hiring foreign teachers.

Yunnan Province is proposing stricter requirements for schools hiring foreign teachers, with non-compliant employment procedures potentially resulting in a direct deduction of points during annual inspections. Schools could also lose points for failing to establish proper foreign affairs management systems.

The proposed changes signal a shift in how foreign teacher compliance is assessed: beyond checking individual employment documents, it could become an explicit part of schools' annual inspections and overall evaluations.

On October 27, 2026, the Yunnan Provincial Department of Education released a draft revision of the Measures and Indicator System for Supervision and Inspection of Private Schools in Yunnan Province (Trial) for public consultation.

The consultation period runs from October 27 to November 5, with the revised measures proposed to take effect on January 1, 2027.

Although the document has not yet been formally adopted, its provisions concerning foreign teachers and foreign affairs management are worth attention from private schools, kindergartens, foreign teachers, and recruitment agencies operating in China.

• Non-Compliant Hiring of Foreign Teachers Could Result in a Direct Point Deduction

Under Indicator C23, covering the teaching workforce, the draft states that teachers in teaching positions must hold the required teaching qualifications and that the employment procedures for foreign staff must comply with relevant laws and regulations.

The indicator carries one point. Non-compliant employment of foreign teachers is listed alongside other violations, including teachers working without the required qualifications, teachers being assigned to teach grades above their authorized level, and inadequate background checks for sexual misconduct or criminal records.

If adopted in its current form, this means schools will need to pay closer attention to the compliance of their foreign teacher recruitment and employment arrangements.

For foreign teachers, this is an important distinction. Holding a valid visa or residence permit does not automatically authorize someone to teach at any school or work in any position. The legality of their employment also depends on whether their work authorization, employing entity, actual job responsibilities, and other relevant arrangements meet applicable requirements.

In other words, having the necessary academic qualifications and teaching experience is only part of the picture. Foreign teachers also need to ensure that their employment arrangements are properly authorized and that the school hiring them is the entity legally permitted to employ them.

This is particularly relevant when a teacher changes employers, takes on additional teaching assignments, or finds that their actual duties differ from those stated in their employment and work authorization documents.

Previously, foreign teacher compliance might have been treated primarily as an issue for recruitment and human resources departments. Under the proposed revisions, it could directly affect a school's annual inspection results.

It is important to note that the draft does not introduce a new nationwide set of regulations governing foreign teachers. Rather, it proposes explicitly incorporating compliance with foreign staff employment procedures into Yunnan's existing annual evaluation system for private schools.

• Schools Could Also Lose Points for Weak Foreign Affairs Management

Another relevant provision is Indicator C62, which covers foreign affairs management and carries two points.

The draft requires schools to establish and improve internal foreign affairs management systems covering matters involving international students, foreign teachers, and Chinese-foreign cooperative education programs.

Schools could lose points if they fail to establish a foreign affairs management mechanism, do not follow the required procedures, or fail to obtain approval or complete the necessary filing procedures for foreign-related activities.

For foreign teachers, this provision is significant because it suggests that compliance should not depend solely on whether an individual teacher has submitted the correct documents.

A school's internal management practices also matter. Foreign teachers may find themselves dealing with different departments for recruitment, human resources, teaching arrangements, and work permit matters. If these departments do not coordinate effectively, important information can fall through the cracks.

For example, changes in an employment relationship, teaching position, or relevant documentation may require further administrative action. Without clear internal procedures and communication, both the school and the teacher could face compliance problems.

This means schools will need more systematic arrangements for handling foreign teacher recruitment, employment documentation, ongoing compliance checks, and coordination between departments.

For foreign teachers, it is equally important to understand that compliance is not solely the school's responsibility. Teachers should keep track of their own work authorization, confirm that their actual employment arrangements match their approved status, and communicate with their employers before making changes that could affect their legal right to work.

• On-Site Inspections to Cover All Private Schools in Scope

The draft also proposes that the annual proportion of private primary and secondary schools and kindergartens subject to on-site inspections should, in principle, reach 100%.

This would make advance compliance checks particularly important for schools covered by the inspection requirements.

Rather than waiting until an annual inspection to discover missing documents or procedural problems, schools would have an incentive to review their foreign teacher employment arrangements and internal management systems well in advance.

For foreign teachers, the proposed changes are also a reminder to pay attention not only to teaching qualifications and contract terms, but also to the legal basis of their employment in China.

If the proposed revisions are adopted, foreign teacher compliance in Yunnan will become more directly connected to schools' annual evaluations. The implications could extend beyond recruitment procedures, placing greater emphasis on the entire employment process, from hiring and work authorization to day-to-day management.

The draft is currently open for public consultation, and its final provisions may differ from the version released on October 27.

• For the full text of the announcement, please visit:

https://jyt.yn.gov.cn/zfxxgk/fdzdgknr/gsgg/202610/t20261027_4368828.html

Alibaba Takedown Rejected? Use the Right Portal Since 2024

Alibaba takedowns rejected for the wrong portal since the 2024 split. Taobao, Tmall and 1688 need a China trademark at ipp.taobao.com; China filing: 8–12 months.

Tags:

• alibaba takedown
• china trademark
• ip complaint portal
• overseas brands
• counterfeit removal

Many overseas brands file counterfeit complaints against Taobao, 1688 and Alibaba, only to have them repeatedly rejected — wasting weeks in the process. The root cause is that Alibaba operates two completely separate intellectual property complaint systems. Use the wrong portal, and even the most complete evidence will not be accepted, let alone achieve the removal of counterfeit listings.

Taobao, Tmall and 1688 belong to the Taobao and Tmall Group enforcement portal at： ipp.taobao.com. It covers the China domestic market, and the system accepts only Mainland of China registered trademark certificates — EU and US trademark certificates have no effect here. Alibaba.com, AliExpress, Lazada and Miravia belong to the International portal at ipp.aidcgroup.net, which accepts trademark registrations from overseas countries.

The split between the two systems took effect in 2024. Many outdated online tutorials still direct overseas companies to the old address-ipp.alibabagroup.com, which now redirects to the domestic portal. Many overseas companies follow those old tutorials with their EU or US trademarks, submit their complaints, and are immediately found to have ineligible IP rights.

The underlying logic is the territoriality of trademark rights: platforms selling into Mainland of China apply Chinese intellectual property law and must verify Chinese trademarks; only cross-border platforms serving global markets recognise foreign registered rights.

Key reminder: Even though many overseas buyers visit 1688, as a domestic wholesale platform it requires a Chinese trademark to complete rights verification before a trademark infringement complaint can be filed. Even if you hold a valid EU or US trademark, you cannot directly complain against counterfeit sellers on 1688.

If you have not yet obtained a Chinese trademark certificate, allow for an 8–12 month registration period. Before the certificate issues, transitional routes such as copyright and unfair competition claims remain available. But the best way to protect your products from counterfeiting is still to register your trademark in China.

Shanghai Chili Cook-Off Nov 7 ： RMB100 Ticket, Beans vs No Beans

The 21st Annual Shanghai Chili Cook-Off returns Nov 7, 1–6pm at Shankang Li. RMB100 includes a drink and all chili tastings, live music and awards.

Tags:

• Shanghai
• Chili Cook-Off
• Food Festival
• Weekend Event
• Ticket Giveaway

Click above to see video

Shanghai's longest-running culinary battle and ultimate autumn block party is back, the 21st Annual Shanghai Chili Cook-Off! 

This Saturday, November 7, Shankang Li transforms into the city's fiercest flavor arena as teams from across Shanghai face off for chili glory, grand trophies, and ultimate bragging rights.

Beans vs. No Beans

To bean or not to bean, that is the question…

For the very first time in Cook-Off history, the competition is splitting into two distinct categories: Team Beans vs. Team No Beans.

Whether you're a Texas purist who swears chili should never see a bean, or a flavor adventurer who loves a rich, bean-loaded stew, this new format is bringing a wave of exciting new contenders into the mix to settle the age-old debate once and for all.

Scan the QR code on the poster below to register your team now…

Chili Cook-Off Merch

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Show your colors at the Cook-Off with exclusive 21st Anniversary T-shirts featuring a ’TEAM BEANS’ or ‘NO BEANS’ designs on the front, with the classic event artwork on the back.

Quantities are limited, so pre-order yours in advance and represent your team on event day.

Competition & Awards

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Bring your appetite, dress to impress, and get ready to vote. Teams will be competing across three legendary categories.

• The Best Chili award is judged by an expert panel through blind tasting to find Shanghai's absolute top chili recipe. 

• The People's Choice Award is voted live by all attendees—taste them all and cast your vote for your personal champion. 

• The famous G-Man Award goes to the team with the most creative theme, outrageous costumes, and wild team spirit. This is a full-on block party—go big or go home.

Live Music & Beats

The party stretches across Shankang Li with two live stages at Parlay and RIINK, the latter bringing retro neon vibes, roller-skating energy, and pop-up cocktails.

While the main focus is on the stove, a killer soundtrack is lined up to keep the block party buzzing all day long. 

The Spaghetti Cowboys bring dirty blues, desert rock, and classic anthems.

• DJ Fixer drops driving Tech-House beats.

• DJ Lucy Wang, Parlay resident and DnB pioneer, delivers smooth, feel-good grooves.

• DJ Abzolute brings non-stop high-energy party tracks. 

• DJ BACKSPVCE, RIINK resident, spins retro beats at the outdoor skate stage.

Community Vibes

As if all the above were not enough, Jiashan Lane Market will be setting out stalls to inject authentic artisan charm, handcrafted treats, and community warmth into the block party.

Tickets & Team Registration

Tickets are just RMB100, which includes a drink on arrival and the opportunity to taste all the different chili entries… which is a meal in itself! 

Scan the QR code on the poster above to lock yours in now.

Sat Nov 7, 1-6pm; RMB100, includes 1 drink and ALL the chili!

Parlay Restaurant & Sports, 358 Kangding Lu, Lane 18, Room 103, Jing'an District 静安区康定路358号18弄103室, 近陕西北路

20% Off!

For a limited time, snag RMB100 Parlay vouchers for just RMB80!

Click below to get yours now:

WIN!

We have six tickets to the 21st Annual Shanghai Chili Cook-Off to give away to lucky That’s Shanghai readers!

For your chance to win, let us know why you would like to attend the event in the comments section below.

Then share the article on your WeChat moments, and send us a screenshot of it to our WeChat account (ID: ThatsShanghai), along with your WeChat ID and phone number—so we can notify you if you win.

Not already a follower of the official That’s Shanghai WeChat account? Scan the QR code below:

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