IMHO, the OP most likely qualifies for transit without a visa according to the lady from the consulate even if it is slightly more than 24 hrs. Also, even if the rules for 72-hour transit say you cannot fly to other cities, I believe that transiting through Kunming to go to Thailand qualifies as leaving Shanghai for a third country.

I actually think with all the trouble the OP has with this ticket, better just refund it (if at all possible) and take another flight and route. China Eastern service is not exactly that great and a 30-hour journey from KIX to CNX with China Eastern is not even ideal without any visa problems. I would suggest you transit through Bangkok, Hong Kong, Macau, Taipei, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, etc.

Your opinion in the first sentence is wrong. The rules are very clear about limits--there is no "grace period" for being just an hour or so over. That's fact, not opinion. The OP risks being denied boarding by MU in KIX. Your second sentence is part wrong, part right. She is clearly in transit, but TWO STOPS IN CHINA means 24 hours maximum even if one of the stops is PEK, PVG/SHA or CAN where s/he ordinarily could have 72 hours. That's also very clear in the regulation.

However, your second paragraph is one I agree with. This routing is lousy. Best to just route with one intermediate stop, likely PVG. Then visa issues go away and the OP gets 72 hours to transit, a much cleaner situation. But I'll bet the OP purchased this on price and can't easily change it without major financial hit. If the penalty is less than the Consular + agency fees for getting the visa, I'd change the ticket.

There is an interesting development: I called the immigration office at Shanghai PVG and explained the problem to the Chinese officer. Surprisingly, he said that, for EU passports in particular, the 24-h visa regulation is not that strict and that, in fact, the lady in the Consulate in Osaka is right when she says I do not need a G visa for this transit. According to the officer at PVG, whether the total transit time is 23h, 26h or 25:40h as in my case, is practically the same thing regarding the the 24h TWOV rule (provided, of course, that I have a confirmed flight booking out of China).

I might just call the airline, to make sure I won't be denied boarding in Kansai, and try how it goes.

The simple fact that she went out of her way to CALL YOU gave me a considerable amount of confidence wrt your situation.

I'm not convinced and I'd remain uneasy if faced with this situation. Ultimately, it's still going to be up to the discretion of MU staff at check-in and if that is successful, with the officer/supervisors on duty at PVG Immigration at arrival time.

However, perapoma, it's your butt so you're the one who's got to gamble or not. If you try it without a visa, do report back and let us know if you were able to board and get through Immigration without hassles, or if you had trouble but were able to talk your way out of it....or something else.

Yes... Quite a headache with this issue already. MU staff at KIX also don't want to hear much abut me trying to board the plane without a G visa, but this is at odds with what the GC and the PVG Immigration officer said. In the end, it seems I'll just maybe be better off applying again and getting it done at once.

In any case, I saw in other threads that people were commenting about when the first stop in China is marked as a "technical stop". Does anyone know if this make any difference? Actually, in my ticket it is stated: MU748 Osaka to Kunming (1 technical stop in PVG).

Thanks

You will enter China @ PVG, technical stop or not, which means your stay will be longer than 24 hours. That having been said, I honestly feel very good about your chances of success. Please try to get a phone number of someone at the Osaka PRC consulate that you can call when you are at KIX or PVG.

TWOV was never intended to punish people who book one-stop flights on Chinese airlines. I REALLY think you'll be okay.

The Osaka woman and the Chinese immigration officer with whom the OP discussed the situation by phone will not be on the scene and probably won't be available by phone even if someone is willing to try to call when the OP tries to board and again upon arrival at PVG. They aren't the one's who will be making the decision, which the OP hopes will contradict written policies not once but twice. I'd worry about MU allowing the OP to board and then about not entering China but being able to get Chinese visas in the future. This is my reaction, but I'm also inclined to defer to moondog's knowledge of Chinese ways.

OTOH, 72 hours in Shanghai sounds much better than this brutal itinerary. Maybe the OP can change the flights on grounds that the details and resulting need for a transit visa weren't properly disclosed; a technical stop sounds innocuous and doesn't seem to imply that one must deplane and be processed by immigration and customs.

Definately moondog has expert knowledge regarding this issue.
However if OP had the same, most probably wouldn't be posing the question.
Would just do it.

Japanese citizens can stay in China for 14 days without a visa, and are not limited to Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangdong.