6-Day Visa-Free Transit Rolls Out in Beijing

By Daniel Plafker

Starting today, visitors to Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei will be allowed to remain in the region for 144 hours, provided they have proof of onward international travel, state media reports. The move, which applies to travelers from 53 countries, doubles the previous stay allowance of 72 hours and applies to rail, sea and air arrivals.

Importantly, the new policy means visa-free transitors will be able to move freely throughout the three jurisdictions of the ‘greater capital region’ during their stay, further cementing the Jing-Jin-Ji policy of regional consolidation. (Romantic weekend getaway to the Xiongan New Area, anyone? Or, perhaps a visit to the toxic swamps of Baoding?).

The three jurisdictions follow Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu, who rolled out the same policy for their own region early last year.

Guangdong province, according a GRT Radio report citing Deputy Director-General Zheng Dong of the Provincial Public Security Department, is cooking up their own version of the policy, set to role out sometime in the first quarter of 2018.

Here is a list of countries currently able to travel to Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei visa-free for six days:

Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Japan, Korea, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia (FYROM), Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal,  Qatar, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates,the United Kingdom, the United States.      

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