Moscow received the first group of visa-free tourists from China after the pandemic

A group of 23 tourists from the Chinese city of Xi'an arrived in Moscow under an agreement on a group visa-free exchange, according to a statement on the website of the Ministry of Economic Development.

“I am sure that as early as next week, Russian groups will also be able to travel to CHINA as part of the group visa-free mechanism. We received confirmation from the Chinese side that they are ready to start accepting Russian tourists," Nikita Kondratiev, DIRECTOR of the Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation and Special Projects of the Ministry of Economic Development, quotes the ministry.

Tourists are waiting for a week-long program in Moscow and St. Petersburg , where they will visit the main attractions, after which they will return to China.

The visa-free regime for tourist groups between RUSSIA and China was resumed from August 1. Tourist groups of five people traveling on the same route and program can travel to a neighboring country without visas.

The Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) reported earlier that China planned to send a “test group” to Russia on August 10 and only after that allow its travel industry to send tourists to the country en masse.

A visa-free agreement for group tourist trips between Russia and China has been in effect since 2000 - it allowed organized tourists in a group of five to 50 people to visit a neighboring country on the lists without a visa and stay there for up to 15 days.

In 2020, the agreement was temporarily suspended due to the covid-19 pandemic .