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- Indefinite challenge: Russia initiates negotiations on permanent visa-free travel with China
Indefinite challenge: Russia initiates negotiations on permanent visa-free travel with China
Russia is ready to negotiate a permanent visa-free regime with China, the Russian Foreign Ministry told Izvestia. According to experts, the leaders of the countries are likely to raise this issue at a bilateral meeting within the framework of the APEC summit in Shenzhen, which will be held on November 17-18. However, Beijing still prefers an annual extension of the program, so the complete and indefinite cancellation of visas is sure to be the subject of serious discussions. Now Russian citizens can freely visit China until the end of 2027. What benefits permanent visa—free travel and how tourism is developing between the two countries - in the Izvestia article.
Russia is ready to negotiate indefinite visa-free travel
Russia is interested in negotiations on the introduction of a visa-free regime with China on a permanent basis. This was stated to Izvestia by Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko.
— We have decided to extend [the visa-free regime] for next year: there was a corresponding presidential decree in response to what our Chinese friends have done. So far we are following the path of an annual extension, but at the same time we have already said that we are interested in negotiations on a permanent mechanism for visa—free exchanges," the diplomat said.
Initially, the pilot visa-free regime was introduced for a period of one year: China launched it on September 15, 2025, and Russia responded with a similar decree on December 1 of the same year. In the test format, this period was limited to September 14, 2026. However, in May, following talks between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping in Beijing, China decided to extend visa-free travel until the end of 2027. Moscow responded in a mirror manner: in July, the Russian president signed a corresponding decree.
The policy of annual renewal is the option that China currently prefers in relation to many countries. So, in November 2025, the Chinese authorities decided to extend unilateral visa-free travel for more than 40 countries until the end of 2026. This list includes the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea and most EU countries.
Beijing's propensity for a phased extension can be considered a basic feature of the entire Chinese foreign policy, Ekaterina Zaklyazminskaya, head of the Center for World Politics and Strategic Analysis at the Institute of China and Modern Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences, explained to Izvestia. According to her, in conditions of geopolitical instability, it is more convenient for China to move in small steps.
On November 17-18, the APEC Summit will be held in Shenzhen, China, which will be attended by Vladimir Putin. The Russian Foreign Ministry earlier confirmed that the Russian leader will hold a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. During such high-level negotiations, the parties are likely to raise the issue of transferring the visa-free regime to a permanent basis, Elena Fomicheva, senior researcher at the Center for Southeast Asia and Oceania at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, suggested in an interview with Izvestia. She did not rule out that this discussion would remain outside the public part, but she called the very fact of its holding logical.
Interim results of visa-free travel between Russia and China
Russia is consistently working to simplify entry regimes with friendly states. Iran is a prime example of such cooperation. The group visa-free agreement became fully operational in the summer of 2023. According to its rules, organized tourists in groups of 5 to 50 people can visit the Islamic Republic without obtaining permits for up to 15 days. Probably, in the future, Moscow and Tehran may discuss the transition to full visa-free travel. However, this issue is not on the agenda yet, Andrei Rudenko explained to Izvestia.
Moscow is currently preparing to launch a similar "group corridor" mechanism based on the Iranian model with India. Negotiations on this issue are at the final stage, and the agreement should significantly increase the mutual flow of tourists. Nevertheless, compared to other countries, China remains the most convenient and accessible for Russian tourists. It is designed not only for organized groups, but also for independent tourists. In addition, the length of stay in China is twice as long and is up to 30 days.
The easing of visa restrictions is gradually becoming a driver for the development of the tourism industry in both countries and is becoming a source for new budget revenues. If by the end of 2025 the flow of Russian tourists to China increased by 30%, then in the first quarter of 2026 the dynamics soared by more than 50% year on year. By the end of the year, it will reach 4.2 million people, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko said earlier.
The cancellation of visas has noticeably spurred demand among Russian tourists, Evgeny Glotov, an expert at the Russian Union of Travel Industry (PCT) and head of marketing at the China Travel tour operator, told Izvestia. According to him, our compatriots stopped limiting themselves to Beijing or Hainan Beach and began actively booking trips to Chongqing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, ancient Xi'an, as well as to Zhangjiajie National Park with its famous "Avatar Mountains".
For Chinese tourists, Moscow and St. Petersburg are still the main points of attraction in Russia, but the geography of their trips is also expanding. Voskan Arzumanov, CEO of TEZ Tour, told Izvestia that travelers are increasingly interested in Baikal, the Far East and other regions. Such a tourist upsurge has provoked a real boom in aviation: in the summer, the number of flights between Russia and China increased to 309 per week from 230 a year earlier. At the peak of the season in September, the intensity of flights reached a historic maximum, amounting to 315 flights.
Thanks to the visa cancellation, China has moved from the "exotic" category to the top 5 most popular foreign destinations along with Turkey and Thailand, said Andrey Podkolzin, head of the PR department at the ITM group tour operator and PCT expert. China's share in the total sales of the tour operator jumped from 12% to 33% — now it is one in three tours sold.
Finally, the growth of tourism leads to the modernization of Russian infrastructure, which benefits the construction industry. A good example is the Far East, where it is planned to open theme parks — special tourist areas where Chinese people can come for a weekend break. "For this purpose, almost 19 thousand new hotel rooms will be built, new resorts and ski resorts will appear. These are thousands of new jobs for residents of the region and a qualitatively new level of recreation," Maxim Reshetnikov, the head of the Ministry of Energy, said earlier.
The introduction of a visa-free regime and a sharp increase in passenger traffic from Russia have led to some technical difficulties, as Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui previously told Izvestia. According to him, in cities where direct flights have recently opened, it is necessary to actively improve the tourist infrastructure and multilingual navigation. The diplomat stressed that the visa cancellation provided a powerful incentive for the development of interregional cooperation between our countries.
The northern border regions show high dynamics. In the city of Heihe, Heilongjiang Province, on the border with the Amur region, passenger traffic through the checkpoint tripled. Short-term sightseeing and shopping trips for Russians provide a stable commercial load for local hotels, restaurants and retailers. Zhou Lijun, Chairman of the Union of Chinese Entrepreneurs in Russia, previously stressed that the introduction of an indefinite visa-free regime between Russia and China would lead to an increase in the number of Chinese enterprises in Russia and an increase in bilateral trade.
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