According to the Beijing Daily client message, on November 19, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning presided over the regular press conference.

A reporter from RIA Novosti asked, yesterday, Russian President Putin stated that the visa exemption system for Chinese citizens will take effect soon. What is the Foreign Ministry's comment? Will China expect an increase in the number of tourists traveling to Russia?

Mao Ning said that the Chinese side highly values the facilitation of personnel exchanges between China and Russia. The two countries are each other's largest neighbors, and the mutual visa exemption will further strengthen cultural exchanges and conform to the common interests of the people of both countries.

According to Russian media reports, on the evening of November 18, Russian President Putin stated that the visa exemption policy for Chinese citizens traveling to Russia will take effect soon.

Previously, the Chinese side had announced on September 2 that from September 15, 2025, to September 14, 2026, Russian citizens with ordinary passports would be exempted from visas. Russian passport holders can enter China for business, tourism, visiting relatives and friends, or exchanges without a visa, with a stay not exceeding 30 days.

In response, Putin expressed his position on September 5, stating that China's decision was a symbol of friendship and pledged that Russia would also implement reciprocal visa exemptions for China.

Since the related news was released last night, the search volume for flights to Russia on several online travel platforms has surged. The popularity of routes between Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen and Moscow, St. Petersburg has significantly increased.

According to data provided by Qunar Travel to the Observer, after Putin announced on November 18 that the visa exemption for China would take effect soon, the search volume for flights to Russia on the platform increased sharply. By 9 a.m. on the 19th, the search volume for the route from Beijing to Moscow increased by 3.4 times compared to the previous hour, the route from Chengdu increased by 3.2 times, the route from Shanghai increased by 1.1 times, and the route from Shenzhen increased by 1.4 times. Hangzhou and Chongqing also saw increases of more than 1 time.

Additionally, the search volume for flights to St. Petersburg from China also showed significant growth. The search volume for flights departing from Wuhan increased by 14 times compared to the previous week, the search volume for flights departing from Tianjin increased by 5 times, the search volume for flights departing from Urumqi increased by 4.5 times, and the search volume for flights from Shanghai to St. Petersburg increased by 2 times within one hour and by 3 times compared to the previous week.

In 2024, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Russia reached 848,000, an increase of 2.2 times year-on-year; the number of Russian travelers visiting China was approximately 3 million.

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