On September 2nd (local time), according to a statement from the Kremlin, during the talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Ding Jiexiang on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok, the visa exemption policy for official and tourist trips between Russia and China will continue to be valid until December 31st, 2027 according to the independent regulations of each country.
The Kremlin emphasized that the relationship between the two countries is developing strongly, reflected in the expansion of comprehensive cooperation in many key areas such as education, culture, cinema, sports, health, media and especially the tourism industry.
This institutional lever creates a smooth corridor for travel businesses to exploit cross-border tours, connecting economic centers with potentially rich ecological destinations.
Maintaining a smooth visa corridor until the end of 2027 is seen as a solid legal backing to realize the ambitious growth plans that Russian officials had outlined earlier.
Previously, at the end of July, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko announced a long-term strategy to increase the scale of tourist flows from China to Russia to 5.5 million by 2030. In the problem of allocating international tourist resources, Russia's Far Eastern region is positioned as the leading strategic gateway, expected to receive about 1.8 million Chinese tourists.
According to a representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, this positive growth momentum stems from traditional friendship and the deep concern of the people of the two countries for the history, culture and natural landscapes of the neighboring countries. The strong social and family ties between residents of the Far East and China are creating a premise for expanding economic cooperation, turning the flow of neighboring tourists into a driving force for infrastructure development and social security for the border area.
This Eastern Economic Forum takes place from September 1 to 4 at the campus of the Federal University of Far East with a key theme aimed at regional development for the benefit of the people, in which tourism continues to be identified as one of the key economic linkage pillars.
