Group visa-free communication between Russia and China is planned to be launched this summer

The possibility of resuming mutual group visa-free tours was discussed at a meeting of the subcommittee on cooperation in the field of tourism of the Russian-Chinese commission on humanitarian cooperation, which was held in the city of Heihe.

“Following the meeting, the parties agreed to provide the Russian side with a list of Chinese tour operators within two weeks. This approach will make it possible to launch group visa-free travel between the two countries this summer. We are talking about trips that will be organized under an intergovernmental agreement by tour operators from both the Russian Federation and China. Tourists from China and Russia will be able to use a visa-free regime for 15 days on the territory of the host country, ” the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation says.

The participants of the meeting paid special attention to the resumption of work on the visa-free channel of tourist exchanges. As part of the launch of the Agreement on visa-free group tourist trips, the parties informed each other about the degree of readiness to receive such groups, the ministry said.

“In order to ensure the growth of mutual tourist flows in order to achieve pre-pandemic indicators, it is necessary to restore group visa-free exchanges between our countries as soon as possible, ensure the stability of the use of the Chinese payment system Union Pay in Russia, and continue close interaction between the businesses of our countries - tour operators, agencies and potential investors in tourism infrastructure,” said Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Russia Dmitry Vakhrukov.