The National Immigration Administration (NIA) chose the eve of the 2026 “Two Sessions” to spotlight a raft of reforms that have quietly been in preparation for months. Speaking to domestic media on 2 March, an NIA spokesperson confirmed that feedback from 194 parliamentary motions tabled in 2025 has translated into ten concrete initiatives aimed at ‘high-level opening-up and high-quality development’.
Headline items for corporate mobility teams include:
• Indonesia joins the list of 54 countries whose citizens may spend up to 240 hours (10 days) in China without a visa when transiting to a third destination. Five additional Guangdong land and sea ports—including Zhuhai’s Hengqin checkpoint—have been authorised to issue the exemption, significantly improving South-East Asian access to the Pearl River Delta.
• A nationwide e-arrival-card system—piloted at 65 ports in 2025—will be switched on later this quarter. Foreign travellers will be able to complete the form in 13 languages via the “12367” app up to 72 hours before departure, trimming minutes off border formalities and giving airlines earlier visibility of inadmissible passengers.
• China’s popular unilateral 30-day visa waiver scheme will be widened further, with the administration saying it is “working with other departments to expand the list of countries eligible for visa-free entry or mutual exemptions.”
![China’s Immigration Authority Rolls Out Ten New Mobility Measures, Adds Indonesia to 240-Hour Visa-Free Transit]()
For travelers and companies looking to navigate these changes, third-party visa specialists like VisaHQ can be invaluable allies. The firm’s online portal (https://www.visahq.com/china/) tracks China’s evolving waiver programs, pre-arrival card requirements, and port-specific rules in real time, and its global team can lodge applications or arrange express document deliveries for clients in more than 50 countries—helping mobility managers and individual passengers stay compliant as the new policies roll out.
For mainland employers, the most consequential change may be the new push to digitise document submission for travel permits issued to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents. System integration pilots that link company HR portals with the NIA’s authentication platform will be opened to all qualified corporations this year, promising same-day verification of employees’ travel credentials.
Analysts expect the policy package to keep inbound numbers on their steep recovery trajectory. The NIA disclosed that overall border inspections hit 697 million entries in 2025—already a historic high—while visa-free arrivals surged 49.5 percent to just over 30 million. By tackling paperwork pain-points and expanding port coverage, the authority is signalling that 2026 will be the year China normalises business travel to—and through—the mainland.
Headline items for corporate mobility teams include:
• Indonesia joins the list of 54 countries whose citizens may spend up to 240 hours (10 days) in China without a visa when transiting to a third destination. Five additional Guangdong land and sea ports—including Zhuhai’s Hengqin checkpoint—have been authorised to issue the exemption, significantly improving South-East Asian access to the Pearl River Delta.
• A nationwide e-arrival-card system—piloted at 65 ports in 2025—will be switched on later this quarter. Foreign travellers will be able to complete the form in 13 languages via the “12367” app up to 72 hours before departure, trimming minutes off border formalities and giving airlines earlier visibility of inadmissible passengers.
• China’s popular unilateral 30-day visa waiver scheme will be widened further, with the administration saying it is “working with other departments to expand the list of countries eligible for visa-free entry or mutual exemptions.”
For travelers and companies looking to navigate these changes, third-party visa specialists like VisaHQ can be invaluable allies. The firm’s online portal (https://www.visahq.com/china/) tracks China’s evolving waiver programs, pre-arrival card requirements, and port-specific rules in real time, and its global team can lodge applications or arrange express document deliveries for clients in more than 50 countries—helping mobility managers and individual passengers stay compliant as the new policies roll out.
For mainland employers, the most consequential change may be the new push to digitise document submission for travel permits issued to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents. System integration pilots that link company HR portals with the NIA’s authentication platform will be opened to all qualified corporations this year, promising same-day verification of employees’ travel credentials.
Analysts expect the policy package to keep inbound numbers on their steep recovery trajectory. The NIA disclosed that overall border inspections hit 697 million entries in 2025—already a historic high—while visa-free arrivals surged 49.5 percent to just over 30 million. By tackling paperwork pain-points and expanding port coverage, the authority is signalling that 2026 will be the year China normalises business travel to—and through—the mainland.
