The Gates to the Celestial Empire: visa-free regime introduced for Russian citizens

Visa-free regime

China has introduced a visa-free regime for Russian citizens holding ordinary foreign passports for a period of up to 30 days, starting from 15 September, said the official representative of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Guo Jiakun. It will remain in effect until 14 September 2026.

Entry without a visa is permitted “for business, tourism, excursion purposes, to visit relatives and friends, or within the framework of exchanges.”
At present, Russians need type “L” tourist visas to visit China. They are issued at visa centres in Moscow and St Petersburg, as well as at Chinese consulates, including one in Kazan.

China has introduced a visa-free regime for Russian citizens holding ordinary foreign passports for a period of up to 30 days.

This was preceded by meetings between Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is currently in China, and Chinese President Xi Jinping. They signed more than 20 documents aimed at developing cooperation in various fields.

The agreements cover such areas as energy, artificial intelligence, the aerospace industry, agriculture, healthcare, scientific research, education and the media.

“Under the strategic leadership of the heads of the two states, China-Russia relations maintain a high level of development,” stressed the official representative of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Guo Jiakun. “China attaches great importance to intensifying exchanges between the peoples of the two countries, supports the strengthening of interaction between them, and makes a positive contribution to the development of the comprehensive strategic partnership and coordination between China and Russia in a new era.”

Demand for China has doubled in a year

The demand for holidays in China among residents of Tatarstan is growing by leaps and bounds. While in 2023 almost no one flew to the country from Kazan, in 2024 demand for flights increased nearly sixfold, and by 2025 it doubled again. This was reported to Realnoe Vremya by the OneTwoTrip service.

China now ranks eighth in the international air travel rating, with a share of 4.7% of all bookings abroad made by residents of Tatarstan.

Most often, residents of Kazan book tickets to Shanghai (72% of flight orders in 2025 are for this city), 7% to Guangzhou, 6% to Zhengzhou, and the remaining 15% to other cities in China.

“We believe that the lifting of visa restrictions between Russia and China may further strengthen the growth of tourist flow to the country. Firstly, one can holiday in China almost all year round, as the weather is always excellent for tourism. Secondly, many international flights, especially to Asia, involve transfers in Chinese cities. And the visa-free regime is a great reason to buy tickets with a long layover in China and get to know a new country,” said the head of the press service of the company, Elena Shelekhova.

The State Committee for Tourism of Tatarstan also expressed the view that the new measure will only further increase the tourist flow to China.

“This measure will become an effective incentive for the growth of inbound tourism and will undoubtedly increase the number of Russian tourists in China. On the other hand, for Chinese citizens, convenient electronic visas and visa-free group trips are in effect, which simplifies the work of tour operators,” the committee commented to Realnoe Vremya on the new regulation.

An increase in tourist flow was also reported by ATOR. As RT quoted the vice president of the association for international tourism, Artur Muradyan, Russians were previously able to visit the beach region of Hainan without a visa.

“However, it can be predicted that trips to the mainland will continue to grow. Tourists who live far from Chinese consular centres no longer need to worry about submitting their passports and waiting 10–14 days for a visa,” he said.

Tourist flow from China to Tatarstan also increasing

In turn, Tatarstan is also increasing the number of Chinese tourists. China has traditionally been among the leaders in the number of its tourists visiting Kazan, the chairman of the republic’s Tourism Committee, Sergey Ivanov, reported in August.

“By the end of the year, we expect more than 50,000 tourists from China. Currently, the trend shows an increase of 15% compared to 2024. Of course, this is greatly facilitated by the direct Kazan–Shanghai flight. In addition, many Chinese tourists arriving in Moscow travel on to Tatarstan,” he said.

According to Ivanov, before the pandemic China ranked first in tourist flow to Russia. The number exceeded 1.8 million people, about 50% of whom visited the European regions of the country.

“For a long time there was no flow of Chinese tourists, and we missed it greatly. In 2020–2022, the numbers were practically zero, but since 2023 the flow has begun to recover. We see that in 2024 the increase was almost 154%. The trend this year is also positive, though modest, — added the chairman of the committee.”

The republic is interested in new destinations for direct flights to China. The most promising are cities with which Tatarstan already has established connections, such as Chongqing, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Shenzhen, Urumqi, and Chengdu. Ivanov emphasized: “The launch of flights to any new city in China will give us additional benefits both in terms of attracting Chinese tourists and in terms of travel for our citizens to China and other countries in Asia.”

Chinese tourists are drawn to river cruises on the Volga, including routes to Sviyazhsk and Bolgar, as well as cruises between Tatarstan and major Russian cities. This tourist product is expected to be launched next year.