China Adds Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam to 240-Hour Visa-Free Transit — Now 57 Countries (August 2026)

China’s National Immigration Administration published the announcement on 20 August 2026, with immediate effect. Kyrgyz and Vietnamese citizens holding ordinary passports may now transit China without a visa for up to 240 hours, and may separately enter Hainan province without a visa for up to 30 days.

The 240-hour policy itself is not new. It replaced the earlier 72-hour and 144-hour transit arrangements in December 2024, and the number of designated ports was raised to 65 in November 2025. What changed on 20 August 2026 is only the list of eligible nationalities, which moved from 55 to 57.

For most people living in the UAE, the honest answer is that it means nothing — and that is worth knowing before you plan a Chinese layover on the strength of a headline. Eligibility for this policy follows your passport, not your UAE residence, and the largest passport communities in the UAE are not on the list.

The other nationalities on the list are mostly European, plus the United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, and in Asia and the Gulf: South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. If you hold one of those passports and live in the UAE, the policy is available to you on the same terms as anyone else holding it.

One practical note on checking this yourself: at the time of verification the National Immigration Administration’s English-language page on the 240-hour policy still listed 55 countries, while the Chinese-language announcement of 20 August gave 57. Where the two differ, the dated announcement is the more current document.

1. 1Check your passport against the list above before assuming a Chinese layover can be done without a visa. Residence in the UAE does not qualify you — only your nationality does.
2. 2If you hold an Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Filipino or Egyptian passport, plan on applying for a Chinese visa in advance, even for a short stop.
3. 3If you are eligible, confirm your itinerary genuinely transits to a third country and that your onward ticket shows confirmed dates before you rely on the policy at check-in.
4. 4Confirm the current list against the National Immigration Administration before you book, particularly if you are reading this some months after publication — China has been adding countries to this policy rather than removing them, but the list is theirs to change.

This update is based on publicly available information from the National Immigration Administration of the People’s Republic of China as of 20 August 2026. The addition of Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam is in force from 20 August 2026, taking the 240-hour visa-free transit policy to 57 countries and the Hainan 30-day visa-free entry policy to 61. No other nationality’s eligibility changed under this announcement. This analysis is provided for informational purposes to help UAE residents understand the policy change. It does not constitute legal advice. For the latest official information, always refer to the National Immigration Administration.