By Swann Collins, investor, writer and consultant in international affairs – Eurasia Business News. July 31, 2026. Article n°3038

Smolenskyi Boulevard, Moscow, 2021– Photo credit : Swann Collins.

Russia and China are discussing the consolidation of visa-free travel for their citizens on an indefinite basis. This was told by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko in an interview with the Arctic.ru portal. According to him, facilitating mutual travel of citizens is one of the priorities of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

“The prospects for consolidating visa-free travel for citizens on a permanent basis are being discussed with the PRC,” said Andrei Rudenko.

The deputy minister said that the introduction of a visa-free regime by Russia and China gave impetus to bilateral tourist exchanges. At the end of 2025, the tourist flow between the countries increased by 17%, exceeding 3 million trips.

The deputy minister added that the Russian Federation plans to increase the volume of tourist traffic from China to 5.5 million people by 2030. The Far East is expected to account for 1,8 million, Mr. Rudenko added.

In May, China announced its will to extend its visa-free regime with Russia until the end of 2027, in a move aimed at facilitating travel and strengthening people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

In September 2025, China introduced visa-free travel for Russians for a year. In December, Russia abolished visas for tourists from China.

According to the results of the first quarter of 2026, the mutual tourist flow between Russia and China increased by 50% year-on-year, reported the Russian Ministry of Economy.

Russia and China want to support their economic ties and bilateral trade with this free-visa regime, following the European Union’s experience with the Schengen zone, with no internal border checks, agreed in 1985 and implemented in March 1995.

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© Copyright 2026 – Eurasia Business News. Article no. 3038