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Putin proposes making Russia-China visa-free regime permanent

The Russian president noted that visa-free travel had helped increase tourist flows between the countries

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping Kristina Solovyova/POOL/TASS

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping

© Kristina Solovyova/POOL/TASS

BISHKEK, August 31. /TASS/. Russia is ready to work with China to make the visa-free regime between the two countries permanent if Beijing considers this possible and useful, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

"We are ready to work together to make the visa-free regime permanent if the Chinese side considers this possible and useful," Putin said at a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the SCO summit.

He noted that visa-free travel had helped increase tourist flows between the countries by 43% in the first half of the year.

On December 1, 2025, Putin signed a decree to enable Chinese citizens to enter Russia for up to 30 days without a visa until September 14, 2026 based on the principle of reciprocity. Previously, China introduced a similar visa·free regime for Russians. Subsequently, both parties extended the right to enter visa·free until the end of 2027. Chinese Ambassador to Moscow Zhang Hanhui previously said that the abolition of visas boosted the tourist flow from China to Russia by almost 1.5 times in the first quarter of 2026.

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Foreign policy Vladimir Putin China

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