BEIJING, October 17. /TASS/. The Russian government expects that about 360,000 tourists from China will visit Russia as of the end of 2023 and 470,000 Russians will visit China, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko told reporters.

In 2022, when epidemiological restrictions were in place, 29,700 individuals entered Russia from China and 17,400 persons came to China from Russia, Chernyshenko said.

"These figures surged several-fold as early as in the first half of 2023 - 139,400 tourists entered Russia from China and 175,000 - from Russia to China. We expect 360,000 tourists from China and 470,000 individuals entering China from Russia as of the end of 2023," the official added.

In 2000, Russia and China signed the intergovernmental agreement on visa-free group tours, Chernyshenko said. The exchange of lists of tourist companies and amendments and supplements to these lists takes place once per year. "The official start of the agreement was this August after the completion of the procedure for exchange of lists of tour operators and coordinating agencies. Mutual tourist traffic between the countries was over 60,000 persons from the launch of this agreement [August 1, 2023 - TASS]," Chernyshenko stressed.