Checked 14 September 2026. Visa rules change by announcement, sometimes with a week’s notice; confirm on the website of the Chinese embassy in your country before you book. The unilateral visa-free policies below are currently in force until 31 December 2026 and have been extended each time so far.
The four ways in
| Route | Who | Stay | In advance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unilateral visa-free entry | Ordinary passports of about 45 countries: most of the EU, the UK and Canada (since 17 February 2026), Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Russia (to the end of 2027) | 30 days | Nothing |
| Mutual visa exemption | Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei, UAE, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Belarus, Armenia, Serbia, Maldives and others with bilateral agreements | Usually 30 days | Nothing |
| 240-hour visa-free transit | 55 countries including the United States, Mexico, Indonesia, Vietnam and most of Europe, when travelling on to a third country or region | Up to 10 days in the permitted region | An onward ticket; form at the port |
| M business visa | Everyone else: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, South Africa, the Philippines, Türkiye, Israel and more; Indonesians and Vietnamese unless they qualify as transit | Per visa: 30 to 90 days per entry | 4 to 8 weeks: invitation letter, application, appointment |
30-day visa-free entry
China has been adding countries to its unilateral visa-free list since late 2023, and the list now covers most of the buyers who come to the fair from Europe and the Pacific. The rules are simple: an ordinary (not diplomatic or official) passport, a stay of up to 30 days, and a purpose that is business, tourism, family visit, exchange or transit. Attending a trade fair and visiting factories is business. You do not apply for anything; you fly, you land, you get a stamp.
The UK and Canada joined the list on 17 February 2026, which removed the last big paperwork hurdle for English-speaking buyers other than Americans. Sweden joined in late 2025 to complete the EU. Most of these exemptions are dated to 31 December 2026; every previous expiry has been extended, but if you are booking for spring 2027 check in January.
Two limits to know. Thirty days is 30 days, and immigration counts them. And the exemption is for the passport you show; dual nationals should travel on the qualifying one for the whole trip.
240-hour visa-free transit
This is the route for US passport holders. If you are travelling from country A through China to country or region B, you can enter without a visa at a designated port and stay up to 240 hours (ten days, counted from midnight after arrival) within a permitted area that includes all of Guangdong. Hong Kong and Macau count as “region B”, which is what makes it useful for a fair trip: fly into Guangzhou, spend a week at the fair and in factories, and leave by train to Hong Kong for the flight home.
- You need a confirmed onward ticket out of mainland China to somewhere other than the country you came from, dated within the 240 hours. A printout or the airline app on your phone is enough.
- You fill in a form at the transit counter on arrival. Allow an extra 30 to 45 minutes at immigration.
- The ports in Guangdong include Guangzhou Baiyun and Shenzhen Bao’an airports. The land crossings from Hong Kong are generally not on the list, so a US buyer who plans to arrive by high-speed rail from Hong Kong on this exemption should confirm the port before booking. Arriving by air into Guangzhou avoids the question.
- The 55 eligible countries include the US, Canada, the UK, most of Europe, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia (since June 2025) and Vietnam (since August 2026). India, Pakistan, the Philippines and most of Africa and the Middle East are not on it.
The M business visa
The M visa is for commercial and trade activities, which is what a trade fair is. It is applied for at a Chinese embassy or consulate, or in most countries through the China Visa Application Service Centre (CVASC), which takes the application, the fingerprints and the fee and hands the file to the consulate.
What goes in the application:
- Passport valid for six months beyond the trip with two blank pages, plus a copy of the data page.
- The online application form (COVA), printed and signed, and an appointment booked through the centre.
- A recent colour photo, 33 by 48 mm, white background, no glasses. The centres are strict about this and there is usually a photo booth on site.
- The Canton Fair invitation letter, which you request when you register as a buyer. The e-invitation PDF is accepted by nearly all consulates now.
- A letter from your own company on letterhead: who you are, why you are going, who pays, and that you will return. A one-person company writes it for itself.
- Flight and hotel bookings (refundable ones are fine) and, at some centres, bank statements or proof of employment.
- Fingerprints, taken at the centre, for applicants aged 14 to 70. Some centres now run an online document pre-check before they give you an appointment; the Indian centres do.
Fees depend on nationality and the number of entries. US citizens pay US$140 whatever the entries; Indian citizens pay from about INR 2,900 for single entry plus the centre’s service fee of roughly INR 2,100; most Europeans no longer need a visa at all. Processing is four working days standard at most centres, two to three with express. What takes the time is getting the appointment and assembling the paperwork, so start six to eight weeks out.
A note for Indian passport holders
India sends one of the largest groups of buyers to the fair and its passport holders have the most paperwork, so a few specifics. The M visa is the only route: India is on neither the visa-free list nor the transit list. Apply through the CVASC in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata or the other centres, after the online pre-check. Bring the Canton Fair e-invitation, your company’s letter with GST registration, your IEC (import-export code) if you have one, and six months of bank statements; the centres ask for them more often than the checklist says. Standard processing has been four working days once the file is accepted. Direct flights returned in late 2025 (IndiGo to Guangzhou from Kolkata, China Eastern between Delhi and Shanghai), which has brought fares down from the Hong Kong and Singapore connections most people used before.
What happens on arrival
- Fingerprints and arrival card. Foreign nationals aged 14 to 70 give fingerprints at a kiosk before the immigration desk (visa holders may have done it at the centre). An arrival card is filled at a kiosk or on paper; keep the stub.
- Purpose of visit. “Trade fair” is a normal answer. Have the hotel address and the invitation letter to hand.
- Hotel registration. Hotels register every foreign guest with the police as part of check-in; that is why they need your passport. If you stay in a private apartment you are supposed to register yourself at the local police station within 24 hours, which is a good reason to stay in a hotel for a fair trip.
- Passport for the badge. You need the physical passport to collect the buyer badge, and a photo of it on your phone for everything else. Most days you can leave the passport in the hotel safe.
Once you are through, the next question is how to get from the airport to Pazhou, and the answer is the metro or a 45-minute taxi.
Questions we get asked
Can I attend the Canton Fair on a tourist (L) visa?
The fair does not check visa types; the badge office checks a passport. The correct visa for a trade fair is the M business visa, and if a border officer asks why you are visiting and you say “the Canton Fair” with an L visa, you may get a lecture. With the invitation letter an M visa is no harder to get than an L, so apply for the right one.
Do I need the Canton Fair invitation letter if I can enter visa-free?
No. Visa-free entry is by passport alone. Carry the letter anyway; it answers the purpose-of-visit question at immigration in one line.
How long does an M visa take?
Standard processing at most visa application centres is four working days from the appointment, with express options at extra cost. Add time to get an appointment (a week or more in busy centres) and to gather documents. Six to eight weeks before departure is comfortable; three weeks is tight.
Can I go to Hong Kong and then cross into Guangzhou without a visa?
Only if your passport qualifies for one of the visa-free routes. Hong Kong has its own immigration rules and does not need a Chinese visa for most nationalities, but the mainland border is a separate entry. Americans on the 240-hour transit exemption should check that their arrival port is on the list; the airports are, the land crossings from Hong Kong generally are not.
Is a multiple-entry visa worth it?
If you will visit factories in Shenzhen and want to go via Hong Kong in between, or if you plan to come to both sessions, yes. Multi-entry M visas of six months to a year are routinely issued to buyers with a prior Chinese visa in their passport.