More than 2,000 take advantage of 6-day, no-visa program to Yangtze region

World Today

The first month of a new Chinese transit policy for international travelers has just concluded. CCTV’s Hu Nan reports from Shanghai on how successful the program is.

The government’s new policy allows allows qualified visitors to spend 6 days in the Yangtze River Delta, a booming economic region in China, without a visa. More than 2,000 visitors have benefited from this policy already since it started on January 30th.

Peter Dijkstra, who traveled to China for a job interview said the new regulation was an improvement.

“I didn’t have time to get a visa during the Chinese new year, so they told me, well, you can also get a transit visa,” he said.

“It saves my two days’ traveling to the embassy and back to get a visa. So it’s a big time saver.”

Passengers applying for this 6-day visa free transit must provide valid international travel documents, onward trip tickets, and itineraries on paper upon arrival, similar to previous transit visa application.

Visitors from 51 countries and regions can benefit from this policy, including the United States, Russia, Britain, Australia, France and Japan. Citizens from the listed countries and regions can transfer in certain Chinese entry points.

Visitors must enter and leave the Chinese mainland through one of the listed ports, and stay in the Yangtze Delta region, including Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu Province, for less than 144 hours.

“Once we had an application featuring accommodation in Guangdong Province. We had to reject this application and let the visitor change his itinerary before entering the Chinese mainland,” said Inspector Gong Jun at China Immigration Inspection at Shanghai Airport.