Australians Can Now Visit China Visa-Free

China has temporarily removed the visa requirement for eligible Australian citizens visiting for up to 15 days.

The change was announced during the Chinese Premier’s recent visit to Australia, and came into effect on Monday (1 July 2024). At this stage, the visa-free policy will be in place until 31 December 2025.

Under the new policy, Australians using ordinary passports (i.e. not diplomatic or official passports) can enter China without a visa for up to 15 days when travelling for business, tourism, transiting or visiting family. Visa-free entry is available at airports, sea and land borders.

The Chinese embassy in Australia has published a notice outlining the change.

The news has been welcomed by Australians looking to visit China, as it removes the hassle of needing to apply for a visa ahead of travel.

Australians were already able to access visa-free transits in China for up to 144 hours, depending on the airport, but this came with various limitations. For example, you needed to be in transit to a third country and couldn’t travel to other parts of China besides the city where you were transiting.

Which nationalities can visit China without a visa?

Australia is now one of 15 countries whose citizens can access visa-free travel to China until December 2025, for stays of up to 15 days. Here’s the full list as of 1 July 2024:

• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium
• France
• Germany
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Italy
• Luxembourg
• Malaysia
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Poland
• Spain
• Switzerland

Citizens of many other countries can still transit without a visa under certain conditions.

Flights from Australia to China

Qantas is currently the only Australian airline flying between Australia and mainland China. However, the flying kangaroo announced in May that it will suspend its sole route from Sydney to Shanghai from 28 July 2024, citing low demand.

“Since COVID, the demand for travel between Australia and China has not recovered as strongly as expected. In some months, our flights to and from Shanghai have been operating around half full,” Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace said at the time.

“We’ll continue to maintain a presence in China through our partners and our existing flights to Hong Kong and look to return to Shanghai in the future.”

Australian Frequent Flyer asked Qantas if the recent visa changes could cause the airline to reconsider suspending flights to Shanghai, but the airline declined to comment further.

Besides Qantas, there are currently 26 non-stop services available between Australia and mainland China on Chinese carriers. Here’s a full list of airlines and routes as of July 2024:

Origin	Destination	Airline
Brisbane	Guangzhou	China Southern
Brisbane	Shanghai	China Eastern
Melbourne	Beijing	Air China
Melbourne	Chengdu	Sichuan Airlines
Melbourne	Guangzhou	China Southern
Melbourne	Haikou	Hainan Airlines
Melbourne	Hangzhou	Beijing Capital Airlines
Melbourne	Nanjing	China Eastern
Melbourne	Qingdao	Beijing Capital Airlines
Melbourne	Shanghai	China Eastern
Melbourne	Xiamen	Xiamen Air
Perth	Guangzhou	China Southern
Sydney	Beijing	Air China
Sydney	Chengdu	Sichuan Airlines
Sydney	Chongqing	Tianjin Airlines
Sydney	Guangzhou	China Southern
Sydney	Haikou	Hainan Airlines
Sydney	Hangzhou	China Eastern
Sydney	Jinan	China Eastern
Sydney	Nanjing	China Eastern
Sydney	Qingdao	Beijing Capital Airlines
Sydney	Shanghai	China Eastern
Sydney	Shenzhen	China Southern
Sydney	Xiamen	Xiamen Air
Sydney	Wuhan	China Eastern
Sydney	Zhengzhou	Tianjin Airlines

You can earn and redeem Qantas points when flying on China Eastern.

Virgin Australia also partners with Hainan Airlines, Tianjin Airlines and Beijing Capital Airlines. Velocity Frequent Flyer members can earn points, status credits and receive reciprocal status benefits on these airlines. However, Velocity redemptions on its Chinese partners remain suspended since 2020.