Do Americans need a visa to go to China?

Americans who take international flights, planes, ships and trains to transit from China to third countries or regions and stay in China for no more than 24 hours without leaving Hong Kong can be exempted from visas.

Foreigners must apply for and complete a Chinese visa before entering China, except in cases where visas are exempted according to relevant agreements and regulations. Foreigners who meet the relevant provisions of Article 20 of the Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) on Exit and Entry Administration may apply to the port visa authority entrusted by the Ministry of Public Security for a port visa at the port approved by the State Council.

People from some countries and regions can enter Hong Kong and Macao visa-free when they go to Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Macao Special Administrative Region. Those who do not enjoy visa-free treatment need to apply for visas or entry permits according to the regulations of the SAR Government. Foreigners who need to travel to the mainland of China, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or the Macao Special Administrative Region at the same time must apply for mainland visas and visas to Hong Kong and Australia respectively.

Foreigners who hold ordinary passports of countries that have diplomatic relations with China and are already in Hong Kong and Macao can enter the Pearl River Delta region of Guangdong through travel agencies legally registered in Hong Kong and Macao (referring to the administrative areas under the jurisdiction of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, Zhaoqing and Huizhou) and stay for no more than 6 days without a visa.

Extended data:

5 1 National citizens hold their valid international travel documents, visas for third countries (regions) and joint air tickets with confirmed dates and seats for going to third countries (regions) within 72 hours, and fly from Beijing Capital Airport, Shanghai Pudong, Hongqiao Airport, Guangzhou Baiyun Airport, Chengdu Shuangliu Airport, Chongqing Jiangbei Airport, Shenyang Taoxian Airport, Dalian Zhoushuizi Airport, Xi 'an Xianyang Airport, Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport, etc.

5 1 Citizens of the country are exempted from transit as follows:

1, Europe: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, Britain, Ireland and Cyprus.

2. USA: USA, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Chile.

3. Oceania: Australia and New Zealand.

4. Asia: Korea, Japan, Singapore, Brunei, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

Consulate General of China in San Francisco-Visa Profile