Tourism is a unifying factor in the development of relations between Russia and China. This was announced on July 27 by Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, as part of the Good Neighbors educational project dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Treaty on Good Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation between Moscow and Beijing.
“Tourism is an important area that clearly demonstrates the hospitality, richness of history, culture and traditions of Russia and China. We are very different, but at the same time we have a lot in common: values, understanding of goodness and justice, love for our Fatherland. It really unites us,” Chernyshenko said.
According to him, the friendship of peoples is truly felt only when a person comes to another country himself, learns its features, walks through the streets of cities, tastes cuisine, and most importantly—communicates with people. At the same time, Moscow and Beijing are reducing formal barriers and opening up new travel opportunities, and the best confirmation of this is the introduction of a visa-free regime between the two countries.
“We saw the effect immediately: in 2025, about 2 million Russians visited China, and about 1 million Chinese citizens visited Russia. According to the results of the first quarter of this year, the flow of Russian tourists to China increased by 60%, and Chinese tourists to Russia by 25%,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.
Chernyshenko recalled that by the decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the visa-free regime between the two countries was extended until the end of 2027, and it is expected that about 6 million mutual tourist trips will be made by that time. Another important component of tourism development is the improvement of territories: the construction of new hotels and restaurants, the opening of sightseeing tours, the growth of transport links, and the promotion of local services.
“This means more additional jobs, private initiatives, and the development of small and medium-sized businesses. Direct flights have been established between our countries—a total of 270 flights per week are available. You can get to each other by rail,” he added.
In addition, the Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation drew attention to the partnership of the countries in the youth sphere. Thus, Moscow and Beijing are systematically working to build a dialogue between the younger generation: regular youth exchanges, meetings, forums, and other events. In May of this year, the heads of state opened the cross-years of Russian-Chinese cooperation in the field of education.
“The International Youth Festival will be held in September. More than 500 applications have been submitted from China. We are waiting for the participants in the hospitable Yekaterinburg. Probably, the main point of youth cooperation is that the new generation confidently looks to the future, builds here and now,” Chernyshenko said.
An equally important topic is the cooperation between Russia and China in the field of sports. In 2022 and 2023, cross-years of Russian-Chinese cooperation in the field of physical culture and sports were held, and both countries advocate that sport should not become an instrument of political pressure. In addition, Moscow and Beijing defend the principles of Olympism, which excludes discrimination against athletes based on nationality and citizenship.
“Russian-Chinese relations are indeed experiencing the best period in their history today, based on the principles of equality and mutual benefit, so the two countries are confidently looking to the future,” the Deputy Prime Minister concluded.
