Who the agreement actually covers
Independent travelers are not in it. The table limits ordinary passports to tour groups organized by authorized travel agencies of both countries. If that is not your trip, you need a visa.
How to apply
- Find the Chinese embassy, consulate, or visa center that covers where you legally live. A post often refuses an application from a country where you are only passing through.
- Fill in the China Online Visa Application at consular.mfa.gov.cn/VISA. A tourist visit is an L visa. Work, study, and a family move are different categories. The center’s own list is the one that counts.
- The form asks for the passport, a photo, work, family, and the trip. A passport with blank pages and validity past the trip is the usual floor. Some posts want six months and a booking.
- When the online review asks for the passport, take it in. Some posts collect fingerprints. Passing the online step is not the visa.
- Leave time before the flight. This guide does not quote a processing day, because the posts do not share one.
A short connection
Any nationality can connect for up to 24 hours without a visa if they do not leave the port’s restricted area and hold an onward ticket.
Checked 29 October 2026. The unilateral list, the transit note, and the mutual-exemption table are the sources. A newer notice wins. Check another country.