GORNO-ALTAYSK, July 26. /TASS/. Visa-free tourist travel between Russia and China will begin soon, Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov said on Wednesday.

"We plan to launch the first visa-free tourist group trips to Iran and China. We have exchanged a list of tour operators, all formalities have been completed, and we anticipate that the first groups will arrive any day and add to the tourist flow," Reshetnikov said.

China resumed tourist trips for organized groups of visitors, including to Russia, on February 6. The Russian Ministry of Economic Development confirmed on February 20 that the agreement between Russia and China for visa-free group tourist trips has been also resumed.