Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
Beijing, January 11 (Xinhua) — From December 1, 2025, when Russia introduced a visa-free regime for Chinese citizens, to January 8, 2026, 39 passenger flights were recorded between Tianshan International Airport in Urumqi, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and Russia, with tourist flow amounting to 4,635 people.
According to the airport's customs service, the two indicators increased by 95 percent and 114 percent year-on-year, respectively, indicating the growing activity of human exchanges between the two countries following the introduction of a mutual visa-free regime.
As a reminder, China has introduced a trial visa-free regime for Russian citizens holding regular passports from September 15, 2025 to September 14, 2026.
In turn, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on December 1, according to which, based on the principle of reciprocity, Chinese citizens will be able to enter the Russian Federation visa-free for tourism and business trips of up to 30 days until September 14, 2026.
To accommodate rapidly growing passenger traffic, customs officials at Tianshan Airport have upgraded eight intelligent screening channels, reducing the time required for each passenger to clear customs control to approximately 6 seconds.
Additionally, airport customs offers multilingual policy consultations at passenger screening points equipped with translation devices. They also coordinate with border control, tax authorities, and airport administration to optimize VAT refunds for international tourists departing the country.
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