Hainan's 30-Day Visa-Free Entry: You Can Stay on the Island, But You Cannot Leave It
✅ Policy check (verified 2026-10-21): the 61-country list and the island-only boundary both still stand — Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam were added on 20 August 2026. Country lists change quietly, so re-check before you book: NIA regional visa-free notice.
On this page
- The four boundaries in the official wording
- The numbers that get mixed up
- Ports and the two-port exception
- What the arrival numbers look like
- Two small things to do after landing
- FAQ
- Can I visit mainland China on the Hainan 30-day visa-free entry?
- Do I have to fly into a specific airport?
- Does the 61-country figure include the 240-hour transit scheme?
- Can I work or study on it?
- Check dates and availability
Short answer: no. Hainan's 30-day visa-free entry is written into the "Hainan Province administrative region" and stops there. Arrive on a qualifying passport at Sanya Phoenix International Airport and you can spend a full 30 days on the island without a visa — but you cannot use that visa-free entry to cross onto the mainland. To go further into China you either need a visa, or you need a different set of rules entirely, such as the 240-hour transit visa-free or a nationwide visa-free policy.
That single limit reshapes the whole trip, so it is worth understanding exactly how the policy is drawn before you book anything.
The four boundaries in the official wording
The policy's formal name is the 30-day visa-free policy for persons from 61 countries entering Hainan, filed by the National Immigration Administration under its regional visa-free entry measures. The published wording sets four boundaries, and none of them can be skipped.
1. Who it applies to. Nationals of 61 countries, holding an ordinary passport.
2. What the visit is for. Short-term purposes only: tourism, business, visiting, seeing family, medical treatment, conferences and exhibitions, and sports competition. Work and study are excluded, and activities requiring prior approval — news reporting among them — still need a visa arranged before you travel.
3. Where you may go. The Hainan Province administrative region. This is the whole answer to "can I leave the island". The policy does not say you may travel to other Chinese provinces. It says Hainan, so it means Hainan.
4. Which ports and how long. Entry and exit at any open port in Hainan, for a stay of no more than 30 days. Both your arrival and your departure have to be at a Hainan port — Haikou Meilan, Sanya Phoenix and Qionghai Boao are all on the list.
Put plainly, "Hainan visa-free" is a regional pass, not a national one.
The numbers that get mixed up
Several country counts circulate online and they are easy to confuse. Separated by origin, they make sense:
- 61 — the countries covered by Hainan's 30-day visa-free entry. On 20 August 2026 the National Immigration Administration added Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam, taking the list from 59 to 61.
- 50 — countries covered by China's unilateral visa-free entry, valid at any open port nationwide, for stays of up to 30 days.
- 29 — countries with full mutual visa exemption agreements with China. Add 50 and 29, and you get 79, the combined national figure.
- 57 — countries covered by the 240-hour transit visa-free. A separate policy again.
- 88 — the total number of countries that can enter Hainan visa-free once nationwide visa-free policies are stacked on top of the Hainan scheme. It is a de-duplicated combined figure, and it is not the same as 61.
One trap worth flagging: the Hainan provincial government's English pages still quote 59 countries and 86 countries, and give 55 for the 240-hour transit scheme. Those are all pre-20 August 2026 figures. For visa-free lists, go by the National Immigration Administration's current announcements.
Ports and the two-port exception
For Hainan's 30-day visa-free entry, the ports are all open ports in Hainan — no particular airport is required.
For the 240-hour transit visa-free, Hainan recognises only two ports: Haikou Meilan International Airport and Sanya Phoenix International Airport. That scheme also requires a connecting ticket to a third country or region with confirmed dates and itinerary. The two policies have completely different thresholds, so do not treat them as interchangeable.
Sanya Phoenix's route network is expanding as well. From 10 October 2026 the airport restored the Phnom Penh ⇌ Sanya ⇌ Singapore fifth-freedom passenger route and the Sanya ⇌ Kuala Lumpur route. Hainan's active international routes are back to 61, with 80 international passenger routes opened in total.
What the arrival numbers look like
A few official figures explain why this island is worth a guide of its own:
- In the first three quarters of 2026, Hainan received 1.4279 million inbound visitors, up 43.1% year on year (provincial tourism, culture, radio, television and sports department).
- In the first half of 2026, Hainan processed 1.603 million entry and exit movements, up 29.3%; of those, 883,000 were foreign nationals, up 33.2%, making up 55.1% of the total. Visa-free inbound foreign visitors reached 377,000, up 40.6% — 93.8% of all inbound foreign tourists.
- Hainan has also published incentive rules for inbound tourism: airlines that organise the transfer of independent overseas travellers to the island can receive 500,000 to 1.5 million yuan.
- On source markets, the stated plan is to deepen the traditional Russian-language and Southeast Asian markets while developing Europe, the United States and Central Asia.
Two small things to do after landing
You can file your arrival card online in advance. Hainan's border inspection authority has introduced online filing for the foreigner arrival card, online applications for group tourist visas, and 24-hour direct transit without border inspection formalities. Filling the card in on your phone before you land saves the queue at the counter.
If you need help, call 12367. The National Immigration Administration's 12367 service platform runs a multilingual, 24-hour service in Hainan, and the main tourist areas carry multilingual signage.
FAQ
Can I visit mainland China on the Hainan 30-day visa-free entry?
No. The permitted area is the Hainan Province administrative region. To reach the mainland you need a visa, or you need to qualify under a different scheme such as the 240-hour transit visa-free or a nationwide visa-free policy.
Do I have to fly into a specific airport?
For the 30-day Hainan scheme, no — all open ports in Hainan qualify. For the 240-hour transit scheme in Hainan, only Haikou Meilan and Sanya Phoenix do.
Does the 61-country figure include the 240-hour transit scheme?
No. The 61 countries apply to Hainan's 30-day visa-free entry. The 240-hour transit scheme covers 57 countries, and 88 is the combined Hainan figure once nationwide visa-free policies are added.
Can I work or study on it?
No. Work and study are excluded, and anything requiring prior approval — news reporting, for example — needs a visa arranged before you arrive. Tourism, business, visiting, family visits, medical treatment, conferences and sports competition are all permitted.
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Check dates and availability
Thirty days on an island means the airport is only the first of several moves: the transfer from Sanya Phoenix to your hotel, then getting between the bay, the inland towns and whichever port you eventually leave from. If you land late, or you would rather not sort out a taxi with luggage after a long flight, a pre-booked airport transfer is worth comparing before you travel — which makes the inclusions, not the price, the thing to check, from a meet-and-greet pickup at arrivals to a kerbside drop:
👉 Check dates and availability
Disclosure: This article includes an affiliate link. I may earn a commission if you book through it, at no extra cost to you. This guide describes publicly listed information only — I have not personally taken these tours.
Image sources: stock/library photos, credited where required.