Chinese nationals can now enter Russia without a visa for stays of up to 30 days, following an executive order signed by President Vladimir Putin on Monday, the Moscow Times reports.
The temporary measure, which runs until 14 September 2026, reciprocates Beijing’s decision earlier this year to grant visa-free entry to Russian passport holders. It forms part of a one-year trial programme aimed at expanding mobility between the two countries.
Putin signalled the change last week during talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Moscow, calling the mutual visa exemption a “good and positive ‘explosion’ in the development of our relations.”
Russia and China already maintain visa-free arrangements for group tours.
[See more: China’s expanded visa waivers drive inbound travel surge]
Chinese interest in Russia has surged since Putin first signalled the upcoming visa-free arrangement, one market analyst told the Times.
“In the 48 hours after President Putin signalled visa-free entry for Chinese, search and product-view volumes for Russia on Chinese platforms were roughly three to five times higher than in the previous week,” according to Subramania Bhatt, CEO of China Trading Desk.
Bhatt added that Russian hotel bookings by Chinese travellers for December were already about 50 percent higher than a year ago, and described ease of travel as “probably the single most powerful accelerator of Chinese travel to Russia right now.”
Meanwhile, Russia’s national airline, Aeroflot, has said it planned to expand its China routes as demand increased. Russian business leaders have also praised visa-free access between the countries as enabling more face-to-face meetings, trade shows and joint projects.
