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China for British passport holders: Visa-free

Your circumstances

Passport:
🇬🇧 British
Lives in:
Not specified (general rule)
Going to:
🇨🇳 China
Purpose:
Holiday

Route summary

Visa-free

Visa-free for up to 30 days

British ordinary passport holders can enter Mainland China without a visa for up to 30 days.

Conditions

  • Ordinary passports only; purposes: business, tourism, visiting family/friends, exchanges or transit.
  • Stay counted from 00:00 on the day after entry.
  • UK appears on the NIA unilateral list (as of 17 Feb 2026); end date of the UK arrangement not stated on that page.
  • Work, study or journalism need a visa.

About this route

Route type
Visa-free: no visa application needed.
Documents
Document list not published by the official source.
Fee
No visa fee (as published).
Processing
Processing time not published by the official source.

Next step

Steps not published by the official source — use the official link to start.

Official sourcenia.gov.cn ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Last checked 2 Nov 2026 against nia.gov.cn · NIA + embassy notice read 2026-10-04

Documents

Document list not published by the official source.

Fees

Official government fee
No visa fee
Visa-centre / service fee (not a government fee)
None stated by the official source
Notes from the source
None published

Visa-centre, service or other third-party charges are never official government fees.

Processing and validity

Processing time
Not published by the official source
Validity
Not published by the official source
Maximum stay
30 days

Requirements for all visitors to China

These apply on top of the visa rules above, whatever your passport, unless an item says otherwise.

  • HealthYellow fever certificate if arriving from a WHO yellow-fever risk country

    Applies to: travellers aged 9 months or over arriving from a country WHO lists as a yellow-fever risk country; also after an airport transit of more than 12 hours in such a country; itineraries limited to Hong Kong or Macao SAR are exempt (CDC).

    Official source: cdn.who.int · Also checked: wwwnc.cdc.govNot official · Last checked 25 Oct 2026

Quick answers

Do British passport holders need a visa for China?

Visa-free for up to 30 days. British ordinary passport holders can enter Mainland China without a visa for up to 30 days. Source: https://www.nia.gov.cn/n794014/n1050181/n1050484/c1731154/content.html

Business, work or just passing through?

The rules above are for a holiday: tourism and visiting family and friends. Business visits, paid work and transit are covered separately below.

Business visits to China

Option 1
Visa-freeBusiness visit (meetings, conferences – not paid work)

Business visit: Visa-free for up to 30 days

Short business visits (meetings, conferences, negotiations – not paid work) follow the same route as a holiday, because the official source covers business visits (Business, tourism, family visits, exchanges, transit). British ordinary passport holders can enter Mainland China without a visa for up to 30 days.

Conditions

  • Ordinary passports only; purposes: business, tourism, visiting family/friends, exchanges or transit.
  • Stay counted from 00:00 on the day after entry.
  • UK appears on the NIA unilateral list (as of 17 Feb 2026); end date of the UK arrangement not stated on that page.
  • Work, study or journalism need a visa.
Government fee
No visa fee
Processing
Not verified yet
Validity
Not verified yet
Max stay
30 days
Steps, documents & where to apply

How to apply

Steps not verified yet — follow the official source below.

Documents checklist

Document list not verified yet — check the official source.

✓ NIA + embassy notice read 2026-10-04

Official wording

“NIA list of unilateral visa-free countries (as of 17 Feb 2026) includes United Kingdom: ordinary passport holders may enter visa-free for stays of no more than 30 days.”

Working in China

Main work visa routes for China

These are the main routes and what they require. Whether you qualify depends on your circumstances; the official page decides.

Z visa with foreigner work permit

For: Foreigners who will work in China

  • Work permit (the Notification Letter for Foreigner's Work Permit) obtained before applying for the Z visa
  • Z visa from a Chinese embassy/consulate
  • For work over 90 days: residence permit for work after entry

Source: The State Council of the PRC (gov.cn) – Guide to Working and Living in China (english.www.gov.cn).

What the source says

"Foreigners working within China should obtain a work permit." … "Those who intend to work in China for more than 90 days shall apply for a Z visa from the Chinese embassy (consulate) with the Notification Letter for Foreigner's Work Permit, apply for a residence permit for work in accordance with relevant regulations after entry"

Checked 16 Oct 2026. Overview: gov.cn – Guide to Working and Living in China. Requirements, fees and thresholds change; confirm on the official page before applying.

Transit through China

Option 1
Visa-freeTransit to a third country (tourism, business, visits allowed in the permitted areas)

240-hour visa-free transit (up to 10 days)

United Kingdom is on China's 240-hour visa-free transit list: when travelling through China to a third country or region you can enter without a visa at one of 65 designated ports and stay in the permitted areas for up to 10 days, with an ordinary passport and an onward ticket with a confirmed seat and date.

Conditions

  • Onward journey must be to a third country or region (not back to the country you came from).
  • Stay only within the permitted areas of the designated provinces.
  • Work, study or news reporting still need a visa.
Government fee
Fee not officially published
Processing
Not verified yet
Validity
Not verified yet
Max stay
240 hours
Steps, documents & where to apply

How to apply

Steps not verified yet — follow the official source below.

Documents checklist

Document list not verified yet — check the official source.

✓ Checked on the live official page

Official wording

“NIA Policy Interpretation: '240-Hour Visa-Free Transit Policy ... nationals of 57 countries ... may enter visa-free through any of the designated 65 open exit-entry ports ... and stay in the permitted areas for no more than 10 days, provided that they hold ordinary passports and onward tickets with confirmed seats and departure dates.' (list incl. Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam from 20 Aug 2026)”

Alert me if this route changes

Get an email when we update the guidance for British passport holders going to China, after we've checked the change against the official source. Nothing else.

Tell me about changes to

We send a confirmation email first. Unconfirmed sign-ups are deleted after 7 days.

Before you go to China

Customs cash limits and the scams official travel advice warns about in China.

Cash you can bring in and take out

Bringing cash in
Use the red channel and declare if carrying RMB 20,000 or more, or foreign cash worth USD 5,000 or more.
Taking cash out
Declare on exit RMB 20,000 or more, or foreign cash worth USD 5,000 or more. Foreign cash above USD 5,000 can only leave with your entry declaration or a bank permit (above USD 10,000: SAFE permit).

Official source: english.customs.gov.cn · Last checked 2 Nov 2026 · Details

Common tourist traps

  1. Tea-tasting or massage invite

    How it works: Friendly strangers invite you for tea, drinks or a massage; the venue demands a huge fee, sometimes with threats or card fraud.

    How to avoid it: Politely refuse such invitations and pick venues yourself.

  2. QR-code phishing

    How it works: Fake QR codes (on stickers or messages) lead to phishing pages that steal payment details.

    How to avoid it: Scan only codes shown by the merchant, check the payee name in the app before paying.

  3. Fake 100-yuan notes

    How it works: Counterfeit notes, especially RMB 100, are common – even from ATMs – and banks will not replace them.

    How to avoid it: Check notes carefully when you receive them; pay by app where possible.

All 7 traps for China →

Emergency numbers in China

Other traps paraphrased from official travel advice: gov.uk · FCDO page updated 27 Aug 2026 · Last checked 2 Nov 2026.

Explore China

Planning more than the paperwork? Our China guide picks out places to visit, things to do and where to shop, with a source for every tip.

Places to visit:
Forbidden City (Palace Museum) · Badaling Great Wall · Lujiazui
Things to do:
Walk the Bund · Hike the Great Wall at Mutianyu
Shopping:
Nanjing Road Pedestrian Mall · Tianzifang · Nanjing Road West and Jing'an
Read the full China guide

British passport: of the 154 destinations with a rule verified from an official source, 110 visa-free, 19 visa on arrival, 22 eVisa or travel authorisation, 3 embassy visa.

China: rules verified from an official source for 195 of 198 passports. China guide and every passport →

Where else can British passport holders travel? See every destination we cover →

Optional travel offers

Some links are affiliate links. Booking through them costs you nothing extra, and a small commission helps pay MyVisaPort’s ongoing hosting and maintenance costs and keeps the site free of banner ads. We only list services we think are useful, and they never affect the visa information we publish. These offers are not part of the visa guidance above and are never used to rank routes. How partner links work

Plan your trip to China

Verify with the embassy before you book. Visa rules change without notice. We link every rule to its official source and last checked it on 2 Nov 2026, but the embassy, official e-visa portal and your airline have the final say. MyVisaPort is not a visa agent and is not affiliated with any government.