China increases number of cities offering 144-hour visa waiver

Since 1 November 2016, the Principality of Monaco has been included on the list of 53 countries whose citizens can be granted a visa waiver for transit through China. The waiver is valid for between 72 and 144 hours, depending on the entry point.

Shanghai, Hangzhou and Nanjing were the first cities to apply this waiver for transit stays of up to 144 hours.

From 1 January 2019, this option will be expanded to five additional cities: Xiamen (Fujian Province), Qingdao (Shandong Province), Wuhan (Hubei Province), Chengdu (Sichuan Province) and Kunming (Yunnan Province).

As a result, travellers who hold a valid Monegasque passport and an onward plane or train ticket to a destination in another country can now spend 144 hours in one of these Chinese cities.

The full list of countries whose nationals benefit from this scheme is as follows: 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, Monaco, Russia, United Kingdom, Ireland, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Belarus, USA, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Brunei, UAE, Qatar.