MOSCOW, September 3. /TASS/. Sales of air tickets to China in Russia doubled on September 2 compared to the previous day after information appeared about the introduction of a visa-free travel regime in China for Russians, the press service of Yandex Travel service told TASS.

"The number of air tickets to China purchased on September 2, the day the news about the visa-free entry regime was announced, was twice as high as the day before," the service said.

Moreover, the share of search queries about China doubled in the past 24 hours, according to Yandex. That said, the share of queries directly related to visas and trips to the country was nine times higher on September 2 than the day before. The number of hotels booked by Russians in China increased by 7% in 24 hours.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said earlier that the country’s authorities would introduce a visa-free travel regime for Russian citizens holding ordinary passports valid for up to 30 days from September 15.