Nationality check
Russian passport holders do not need a visa for China
Russia is on the 30-day visa-free list, and on better terms than any other country on it. The rule is simple. What goes wrong for Russian travellers happens after the border, not at it.
No visa. Up to 30 days — authorised a year longer than everyone else.
Russian passport holders are authorised to 31 December 2027. Every other nationality on the scheme except Brunei runs to 31 December 2026. This is the single most-mistranslated fact about Russian entry to China, and plenty of guides still print the shorter date.
Entry facts on this page were last verified against official sources on 2026-09-14.
What the 30 days actually cover
The exemption names five purposes, and a stay of 30 days or less for any of them needs no visa:
- Business — meetings, trade fairs, signing, inspection visits
- Tourism and sightseeing
- Visiting family or friends
- Exchange and study visits that are not enrolment
- Transit onward to somewhere else
Not covered: paid work, enrolling in a course, journalism, residence, or any stay longer than 30 days. Each of those needs the matching visa arranged before you travel — none of them can be converted at the border, and the exemption is not a status you can extend into.
Your date is 31 December 2027, not 31 December 2026
The scheme is a policy announcement with an end date, extended annually rather than granted permanently. Most of the list is authorised to 31 December 2026. Russia was separately confirmed to 31 December 2027.
That gap matters in practice: a trip booked for spring 2027 is outside the scheme for a German traveller and inside it for a Russian one. Guides that collapse both into one date are wrong for one of the two readers, and it is usually the Russian one.
As of 2026-09-14, nothing beyond 31 December 2027 has been announced. That is a year and a half of runway — comfortable, but not permanent, and worth re-checking before booking anything that lands in 2028.
Rules change. We watch them for you.
Forms, fees and entry policy shift with little notice — this page is re-verified every month. Leave an email and we will tell you when something actually changes. Nothing else, ever.
Transit, if you ever need it
Russia is also among the 57 nationalities on the 10-day transit scheme. You will rarely want it — the 30-day route is longer, covers all of mainland China, and carries no onward-ticket condition — but it exists as a fallback and it has no stated end date.
Its conditions: a confirmed onward ticket to a third country or region, entry at one of 65 approved ports, and travel confined to 24 provinces.
You still have to file the arrival card
The exemption removes the visa, not the paperwork. Everyone entering on a foreign passport files China’s arrival card — free, online, and quick once you know which fields reject what you would naturally type.
The thing that actually goes wrong
For Russian travellers the border is the easy part and payment is the hard part. This is worth solving before departure, not on arrival:
- Visa and Mastercard cards issued by Russian banks do not work in mainland China — not at ATMs, not in shops, not online. This is not a China policy and no workaround at the terminal fixes it: what does work.
- Most of the apps you use daily are unreachable on a mainland connection, and the fix has to be in place before you land: connectivity.
- High-speed rail is the fastest way between cities and books out days ahead in season: tickets and ID.
Questions people get wrong
Is it really 31 December 2027 and not 31 December 2026?
Yes. Russia and Brunei are the two exceptions on the list, and both are in the traveller’s favour — Russia is authorised a year longer, Brunei’s exemption carries no announced end date at all. We re-verify this against the official announcements every month.
Is the 30 days per entry or per year?
Per entry. The announcement sets no annual cap and no minimum gap between visits.
Do I need a return ticket?
Not for the 30-day exemption. The onward-ticket condition belongs to the transit scheme only.
Can I work remotely for a Russian employer while I am there?
The exemption covers business travel, not employment. Remote work for an employer outside China sits in a grey area that no announcement addresses; taking up paid work inside China plainly does not qualify and needs the matching visa.