VisaHQ’s 10 January bulletin reports that more than 40.6 million foreign travellers used China’s 240-hour (10-day) visa-free transit policy in 2025, the first full year since the exemption was extended from 144 hours. The waiver now covers 55 countries and 65 entry points, including Guangzhou Baiyun and Shenzhen Bao’an—airports heavily used by Hong Kong-based companies for Greater Bay Area itineraries.
Second-tier hubs are the biggest winners: Baiyun saw a 62 % surge in transit traffic after bundling duty-free vouchers and business-registration support in adjoining free-trade zones. Shenzhen’s Qianhai pilot goes further, letting eligible transitees incorporate a company during the 10-day window.
VisaHQ’s Hong Kong portal—https://www.visahq.com/hong-kong/—helps corporate travel teams capitalise on the 240-hour waiver by providing instant eligibility checks, onward-ticket validation and step-by-step documentation guidance. Mobility managers can upload proposed itineraries, receive alerts on permitted transit zones, and even bundle visa services for subsequent destinations, streamlining Greater Bay trips and ensuring compliance in one dashboard.
![China’s 240-hour visa-free transit records 40 million users—new routing options for Hong Kong corporates]()
For Hong Kong mobility teams, the expanded scheme opens up creative routings. Executives can fly HKG-PEK-third-country or HKG-CAN-onward and conduct multiple client visits without a full Chinese visa—useful when trip lead-times are short or passport space is limited. Corporate travel managers say the longer stay makes it feasible to combine factory audits, customer meetings and an onward Asia-Pacific stop-over in one ticket, trimming airfares by up to 18 %.
Caveats remain: paid work is still prohibited, and overstays incur fines and future-entry bans. Companies are integrating flight-monitoring alerts into traveller-tracking tools to ensure departures remain within the 240-hour limit. Travellers must also hold confirmed onward tickets and cannot deviate from authorised transit zones.
Hong Kong carriers Cathay Pacific and HK Express have signalled interest in adding fare classes that bundle transit support services, while visa consultancies report a spike in eligibility-check requests from SAR-based SMEs eyeing mainland market entries. The policy is reshaping Asia-Pacific scheduling and further knitting Hong Kong into regional supply chains.
Second-tier hubs are the biggest winners: Baiyun saw a 62 % surge in transit traffic after bundling duty-free vouchers and business-registration support in adjoining free-trade zones. Shenzhen’s Qianhai pilot goes further, letting eligible transitees incorporate a company during the 10-day window.
VisaHQ’s Hong Kong portal—https://www.visahq.com/hong-kong/—helps corporate travel teams capitalise on the 240-hour waiver by providing instant eligibility checks, onward-ticket validation and step-by-step documentation guidance. Mobility managers can upload proposed itineraries, receive alerts on permitted transit zones, and even bundle visa services for subsequent destinations, streamlining Greater Bay trips and ensuring compliance in one dashboard.
For Hong Kong mobility teams, the expanded scheme opens up creative routings. Executives can fly HKG-PEK-third-country or HKG-CAN-onward and conduct multiple client visits without a full Chinese visa—useful when trip lead-times are short or passport space is limited. Corporate travel managers say the longer stay makes it feasible to combine factory audits, customer meetings and an onward Asia-Pacific stop-over in one ticket, trimming airfares by up to 18 %.
Caveats remain: paid work is still prohibited, and overstays incur fines and future-entry bans. Companies are integrating flight-monitoring alerts into traveller-tracking tools to ensure departures remain within the 240-hour limit. Travellers must also hold confirmed onward tickets and cannot deviate from authorised transit zones.
Hong Kong carriers Cathay Pacific and HK Express have signalled interest in adding fare classes that bundle transit support services, while visa consultancies report a spike in eligibility-check requests from SAR-based SMEs eyeing mainland market entries. The policy is reshaping Asia-Pacific scheduling and further knitting Hong Kong into regional supply chains.
