BEIJING, October 17. /TASS/. Revenues from mutual tourist trips between Russia and China can reach $700 mln by the end of this year, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko told reporters.

"The gross mutual sales volumes for tourist trips is also growing along with the tourist traffic recovery, which is estimated to be around $300 mln over six months of this year and can reach $700 mln as of the year-end, which is above total exports of Russian tourist services in 2020 and 2021," the official said.

Several avenues in the tourism sphere are now in place for efforts of Russia and China, the deputy prime minister noted. These are the visa-free group travels, e-visa issue, the direct air service buildup and creation of new cross-border routes, Chernyshenko noted.

The key areas is to further increase the tourist traffic from China to Russia, he said. "It is targeted by several activities - a meeting of the sub-committee on tourism cooperation of the Russia-China commission on humanitarian cooperation, a meeting of the working group on implementation of the Russia - Mongolia - China economic corridor, and meetings among representatives of relevant ministries," Chernyshenko said.

Joint project promoting cooperation in the tourist sphere are being implemented successfully at present, including the China Friendly program with more than 250 business and organizations participating, he added.