VLADIVOSTOK, September 10. /TASS/. Mutual tourist flow between Russia and China by the end of 2024 will recover by 50% of pre-pandemic figures and will reach around 2 mln trips, Director of the Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation and Special Projects of the Ministry of Economic Development Nikita Kondratyev told TASS.

"If we look at mutual tourist flow, then we expect around 2 mln [trips]. <...> Mutual tourist flow between Russia and China this year will amount to about half of pre-COVID figures. Before the pandemic, there were 4 mln mutual tourist trips," he said.

In terms of Chinese tourists visiting Russia, around 1 mln trips are expected in 2024. In the first half of this year, tourists from China visited Russia 500,000 times, and in the same period last year - 150,000 - 170,000 times.

"This growth was due the mechanism of visa-free group travel that has finally been introduced. In addition, Chinese tourists are actively using electronic visas. In other words, all the steps taken in August 2023 to liberalize the visa regime have shown their effect," Kondratyev noted.