BEIJING -- China's National Immigration Administration announced on Monday that the country's 240-hour visa-free transit program will be expanded to five more ports in Guangdong province, as part of China's latest efforts to further deepen its opening-up policy.

Three of the new ports are located in Guangzhou, Zhuhai's Hengqin and Zhongshan, along with the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the West Kowloon Station of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link.

The new policy, effective Wednesday, will raise the total number of ports eligible for the 240-hour visa-free transit from 60 to 65.

Travelers from 55 eligible countries who meet certain criteria can enter China through any of the 65 ports across 24 provincial-level regions and stay in the country for up to 240 hours, or 10 days, without a visa before heading to a third destination, according to the NIA.