Strong China, Russia ties may boost tourism

Tourism experts and industry insiders have voiced optimism about growth in tourism between China and Russia because of the two countries' strong economic ties, relaxed visa rules and geographical proximity.

In August last year, both nations resumed their visa-free travel policies for group tours.

China's policy allows Russians holding ordinary passports to stay anywhere on the Chinese mainland for up to 15 days in groups of between five and 50 people. Russia has the same policy for Chinese tour groups visiting the country.

Both policies, which were originally adopted in 2000, were suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The number of Russians visiting China has surged this year, and my colleagues and I were very busy from May," said Song Xueyan, 43, a Russian-language tour guide who works in Hunchun, Jilin province, a city on the Chinese-Russian border.

Cross-border tourism between China and Russia usually declines from late September, but Song said he anticipated that will not be the case this year, with business expected to remain robust into winter.

"The eased visa rules is one of the major reasons," he said. "The increased availability of tourism activities at lower prices is also attractive to Russians."

The company he works for, which employs 12 tour guides, has provided services to about 6,000 Russian tourists from May to October, he said.

Heihe, the cross-border port in Heilongjiang province adjacent to Russia, saw more than 360,000 entries and exits from January to late July, three times more than during the same period last year. Meanwhile, Heilongjiang welcomed 317,000 Russian tourists, who made up more than 90 percent of the province's foreign visitors, People's Daily reported.

More Chinese tourists have also been visiting Russia since China loosened travel restrictions and resumed outbound group tours to Russia in February last year. Russia resumed the mutual exemption of visas for Chinese passport holders six months later and made e-visa services available to 55 countries, including China, at about the same time.

As of July this year, 559 travel agencies in Russia have been authorized to receive visa-free Chinese tour groups, 50 percent more than a year earlier, according to a People's Daily report that cited figures from the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation.

The tourism bureau of Primorsky Krai in Russia said the area received 129,500 visits from Chinese travelers last year, and about 49,000 visits in the first three months of this year, roughly matching pre-pandemic figures.

Wei Changren, founder of btiii.com, a tourism-related financial news website, said he was optimistic about tourism growth between China and Russia.

"It's easy to get to Russia thanks to the relaxed visa rules and short travel times," he said. "Traditionally popular tourism draws for Chinese such as Moscow, St. Petersburg and Vladivostok are attracting ever greater numbers of people."

Many Chinese who travel to Jilin and Heilongjiang like to visit Russia at the same time, Wei said. One big attraction is Russian culture, including the architecture, which contrasts with that of China's, he said.

"China and Russia have a longstanding friendship that includes economics and people-to-people exchanges, and deepening ties will continue to drive tourism collaboration."

In March, Chi Zijian, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, proposed a China-Russia cultural and tourism belt in Heilongjiang.

The province can gain financial support from the central government to improve infrastructure such as roads and railways, she said, and a China-Russia cultural and tourism belt connecting the province's 18 border counties and districts and 19 ports would offer quicker and easier access for Russians to China.