To better implement the Belt and Road Initiative and follow the strategy to promote coordinated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, and build a more convenient and relaxed soft environment for exit and entry, with the approval of the State Council, the 144-hour transit visa-free policy for foreigners from certain countries is implemented in Beijing Municipality, Tianjin Municipality and Hebei Province. The relevant matters are hereby announced as follows:

I. List of Countries Entitled to the Policy

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

II. Conditions

Personnel from the above countries shall hold valid international travel documents and a connecting passenger ticket with confirmed date and seat scheduled to depart within 144 hours to a third country (region). This policy is not applicable to foreign crew members and their accompanying family members on international voyage ships.

III. Exit and Entry Ports

Transit foreign travelers may choose to enter or exit from Beijing Capital International Airport, Beijing West Railway Station, Tianjin Binhai International Airport, Tianjin International Cruise Home Port, Shijiazhuang Zhengding International Airport or Qinhuangdao Seaport.

IV. Area and Duration of Stay

Foreigners shall abide by the laws and regulations of China during their visa-free transit stay. An utmost 144-hour visa-free stay is available to eligible passengers in the administrative areas of Beijing Municipality, Tianjin Municipality and Hebei Province. The permitted areas and duration of stay shall not be exceeded. During the visa-free transit stay, for foreigners staying in hotels, the hotels shall register their stay in due course. For foreigners lodging or staying in residence other than hotels, the foreigners or their hosts shall register their stay with the local police station of public security authorities or foreigners service stations within 24 hours of their stay.

Foreigners that travel beyond the permitted area, overstay the duration or fail to have their stay legally registered shall be dealt with by public security authorities at or above the county level or exit-entry frontier inspection authorities in accordance with the Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People's Republic of China.

The policy in this announcement will take effect from and after December 28, 2017.

                              Ministry of Public Security

                                 December 27, 2017

Notice: This English version is only for reference. To learn more, please refer to the authoritative Chinese version.