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Russia, China to sign visa-free travel agreement soon — official

Russia and China plan to sign a visa-free travel agreement in the near future

BEIJING, July 26. /TAS/. Russia and China plan to sign a visa-free travel agreement in the near future, which will make it possible to substantially increase the tourist flow in both directions, Deputy Head of the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism Nikolai Korolyov informed TASS on Thursday.

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"We discussed the organization of visa-free travel for Russian and Chinse citizens and are well aware of the fact that this issue is related to both the activities of tourist regulators and the work of the relevant competent authorities, in particular, border authorities, the Russian and Chinese Interior Ministries and the Foreign Ministries of the two countries," he noted commenting on the results of the 15th meeting of the Subcommittee on Tourism of the Russian-Chinese Commission on Humanitarian Cooperation held in Sanya, Hainan province (southern China).

"We have reached an understanding with China, and we will hold a few more working meetings on the issue, the more so since this is related to the activities of tourism regulators, and we will soon agree on the final document, which will be signed," the official went on to say.

Korolyov recalled that visa-free travel is a comprehensive task, which involves a number of procedures related to crossing the border and staying in another country. "I believe our project fits well into the overall policy of the Russian state, including in terms of improving travel within the framework of the bilateral cooperation in the field of information technologies," he concluded.

The Russian delegation led by Korolyov is paying a visit to China to discuss with the Chinese counterparts cooperation in tourism, the provisional results achieved at the consultations on visa-free guided group tours, interaction on international platforms, development of new cooperation areas and the creation of the Russian-Chinese cooperation mechanism to control and regulate the tourism market.

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