Chinese portal: Russia and China plan to agree on new visa-free conditions in June
Moscow and Beijing are negotiating visa—free travel for tourist groups of three or more people - the document is scheduled to be agreed in June, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation told Izvestia. Despite the fact that the mutual interest of Russians and Chinese in travel continues to grow, the parties are not yet ready to completely cancel visas. About when this will become possible and under what conditions it is now possible to get to China, see the Izvestia article.
How to get to China without a visa
Russia and China are negotiating to simplify entry for tourist groups, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation told Izvestia, answering a question about when visa-free travel will become available for groups of three or more people. The final version of the document is planned to be agreed in June 2025, the ministry said.
— We are negotiating with the Chinese Foreign Ministry, we have received the vision of our Chinese colleagues on amendments to the Agreement on visa-free group tourist trips, and we are working on them. In June, at a meeting of the bilateral tourism commission in Qingdao, we plan to agree on the final version of the document," they noted.
We are talking about the Agreement on visa-free group trips, which Moscow and Beijing signed in February 2000. According to it, organized groups of travelers from five to 50 people were given the opportunity to come to another country without a visa and stay there for up to 15 days. The agreement was frozen for the duration of the coronavirus from January 2021 to February 2023.
The pandemic has put the Chinese tourism industry on the brink of survival, Nikolai Marchenko, a Sinologist and director of the Autonomous Non-Governmental Organization Eurasian Youth Projects, told Izvestia. This is primarily due to the strict anti-coronavirus measures that the Chinese authorities have taken. However, in 2025, it is expected that the pre-pandemic flow of tourists from Russia will fully recover, said Wang Rui, head of the National Tourism Office of the People's Republic of China in Moscow. Then, in 2019, more than 2.3 million Russians visited the country.
Interest in China continues to grow. Today, the country has entered the top 5 most popular foreign destinations among Russian tourists, Dmitry Gorin, vice president of the Russian Union of Travel Industry (PCT), told Izvestia.
"Over 170 flights a week are operated to various cities in China, about nine airlines are already flying, tickets are extremely affordable, which makes it possible to popularize this direction," the expert noted.
Hainan Island gives a great boost to the tourist flow, where Russians can get alone without visas and on a direct flight. In addition, since the end of last year, you can stay in China without a visa for up to 10 days if you fly in transit to third countries. Previously, this period was seven days. In addition, the number of visa-free entry points has expanded from 39 to 60 in 24 regions of China.
In other cases, you can enter China without a visa only in organized groups of five people or more. To do this, Russians need to contact an accredited travel company that has the right to organize visa-free group trips.
Is a complete visa-free regime between Russia and China possible
On May 28, 2025, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced the expansion of the visa-free regime for 47 countries. It has long been valid for a number of post-Soviet states, for example, for Armenia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
Beijing, judging by official statements, welcomes the complete abolition of visas with Russia. So, the Chinese Ambassador to Moscow, Zhang Hanhui, stated back in 2023 that this would benefit both countries. The same idea was expressed by Charge d'affaires of the republic's Embassy in Moscow, Zhang Wei, already in March 2025.
At the same time, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation previously stated that the complete abolition of visas is not yet being considered, since at the moment group visa-free travel is sufficient. One of the reasons why the parties are hesitant to completely cancel visas may be the problem of illegal migration, Yang Cheng, a professor at Shanghai University of International Studies, told Izvestia. After all, Russia and China have one of the longest borders in the world. In such conditions, migration risks becoming illegal, Nikolai Marchenko emphasized.
At the same time, experts are confident that the introduction of a full—fledged visa-free regime with Russia is a matter of the not too distant future. However, you need to understand that such an agreement requires detailed work on both sides, so the whole process may take more than one year. In addition, a whole business has been built on visa processing, which also plays an important role, Alexey Maslov, an orientalist and director of the Institute of Asian and African Countries, told Izvestia.
— Visas are a huge business empire. This refers not only to the visa fee per se, but also to various visa application centers that provide support in registration. Both in China and in Russia, these visa centers are literally packed with visitors," the expert recalled.
The political situation in the world is of great importance in the issue of easing visa restrictions. Since 2020, the anti—Chinese rhetoric of the West has been sounding louder, so the introduction of a visa-free regime is an effective tool of China's "soft power" designed to increase goodwill towards Beijing among foreigners, Nikolai Marchenko believes.
Therefore, today China is investing a lot of money in the development of the tourism industry and the creation of a convenient infrastructure for guests. For this purpose, for example, Beijing has introduced special city cards with which tourists can pay both on public transport and in restaurants, Alexey Maslov said. Thus, both Russia and China are committed to further progress on the issue of visa-free travel. And although it is not worth waiting for the complete abolition of visas between the countries in the near future, there is no doubt that both countries are gradually moving in this direction.
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