China and Russia, which have been rapidly strengthening ties around this month’s military parade, have agreed to waive visa requirements for each other’s citizens
According to Russia’s TASS news agency, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was visiting Vladivostok to attend the 10th Eastern Economic Forum, met with Li Hongzhong, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) of China, on Thursday. Putin, who had already attended the 80th anniversary military parade in Beijing on Wednesday, continued to emphasize cooperation with China during his meeting with Li. Regarding China’s visa waiver, Putin stated that Russia will indeed reciprocate such a friendly gesture by doing the same.
China and Russia already operate a visa-free system for group tourists, which applies to tours organized by accredited travel agencies with groups consisting of 5 to 50 people.
On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun announced during a press briefing that individual Russian citizens, not just group tourists, will be able to enter China without a visa. He explained, “China has decided to implement a one-year trial visa waiver policy for Russian citizens holding ordinary passports from September 15 of this year until September 14 of next year.” He added, “Russian passport holders visiting China for business, tourism, family visits, or cultural exchanges, with a stay of up to 30 days, can enter without a visa.”
During his meeting with Putin on Thursday, Li emphasized that this visa waiver initiative “symbolizes the strengthening of cooperation between China and Russia.”
According to TASS, individual Chinese citizens who are not part of tour groups currently enter Russia using standard visas or electronic visas. The electronic visa, introduced in August 2023, allows for stays of up to 30 days in Russia. It reportedly takes a few days to process and costs between 40 USD to 50 USD.
