MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/. Russia and China plan to increase mutual tourist flow to 2 mln trips in 2024, Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov said during a visit to China as part of a delegation accompanying Russian President Vladimir Putin during his two-day state visit to China.

"Last year, the mutual tourist flow between Russia and China exceeded 1.2 mln visits. China leads the non-CIS countries in terms of inbound tourism. The goal for this year is 2 mln mutual trips. To achieve this, we, for our part, are providing favorable conditions, such as in terms of payments for services and commodities in Russia," the minister was quoted by the press service of the Ministry of Economic Development.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said after the document signing ceremony during his state visit to China that mutual tourist flows between Russia and China are growing - in 2023, 734,000 Russian tourists visited China. "Tourist flows are also increasing, which is largely facilitated by the mutual visa-free regime for tourist groups operating in both countries," he said.

"In 2023, 734,000 Russian citizens visited China and 477,000 Chinese tourists visited Russia," Putin added.

Earlier, a joint statement on deepening the partnership between Russia and China, signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, was published on the Kremlin website. In particular, the parties agreed to expand cooperation in the field of tourism, creating favorable conditions for increasing the number of mutual tourist trips.