China introduces a one-year visa-free travel opportunity for Russian nationals

In a significant move to strengthen ties and promote mutual travel, China and Russia announced a visa-free arrangement for Russian citizens on September 15, 2025. This decision, confirmed by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, is part of China's broader vision for a more integrated non-Western order.

The visa-free measure applies to tourism, business, visiting relatives or friends, and exchange visits. This initiative builds on existing travel cooperation between China and Russia, which was reinstated in August 2023 after being suspended during the pandemic.

The SCO summit, which concluded on Monday, underscored China's ambition to shape a new global security and economic order. The visa-free arrangement with Russia is a step towards achieving this goal, symbolising a deepened strategic alliance among its members.

Russia has been absent from the expanding list of visa-free countries for China, but has now been included. This decision is expected to boost tourist flows between the two nations. In 2024, 20 million foreign visitors entered China without visas, accounting for one-third of all international arrivals. Tourist flows between China and Russia surged after the reinstatement of the visa-free group travel programme in 2023, with mutual visits rising 2.5 times in 2024, reaching 2.8 million people.

Travel platforms such as Trip.com reported twice as many bookings to China in early 2025 compared with the year before. The list of visa-free countries for China has been doubled to 75 nations since late 2023.

The visa-free arrangement with Russia is technically a trial, but its political and symbolic weight suggests it could become permanent if successful. The two leaders of China and Russia, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, presented their countries' partnership as resilient "in the face of international changes" during bilateral talks on the margins of the SCO summit.

The Beijing summit closed with a joint declaration pledging a deepened strategic alliance among its members. The Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline and the Soyuz-Vostok transit route through Mongolia are among the major energy projects agreed upon alongside the visa-free announcement. China is expected to generate record revenues of ¥13.7 trillion in 2025 and support over 83 million jobs in the Travel & Tourism sector.

This visa-free measure is intended to facilitate mutual travel between citizens of China and Russia and to strengthen bilateral ties. It emphasises the importance of "contacts between people", a crucial aspect of China's foreign policy. The expanded list of visa-free countries includes France, Germany, Italy, Spain, most of the EU, various nations across Latin America and the Middle East.

The visa-free arrangement with Russia is a significant step in China's global strategy, underscoring its ambition to reshape the international order. From September 15, 2025, until September 14, 2026, Russian citizens holding ordinary passports will be able to enter China without a visa for stays of up to 30 days.