On the 1st, after Russia announced that Chinese citizens can travel to Russia for tourism and business without a visa, data from some platforms show that the number of searches for flights from China to Russia surged eightfold compared to the previous day, and the number of bookings also soared nearly fivefold.
According to a report by China's official media CCTV News on the 1st, based on an order signed by Russian President Putin, starting from that day until September 14, 2026, Chinese citizens can travel to Russia for tourism and business purposes without a visa. The maximum visa-free stay is 30 days.
An article by China Business News reported that according to data from the travel platform "Fliggy," within less than an hour of the announcement, the number of flight searches to Russia on the platform surged more than eightfold compared to the previous day, and the number of bookings also soared nearly fivefold.
The flight search volume for Russia on the travel platform "Qunar" also soared instantly.
The report also mentioned that compared with other flights between China and Europe or the US, the current volume of flights between China and Russia has surpassed pre-pandemic levels.
The report adds that even before this, Russia was already a popular outbound destination for Chinese travelers. In 2024, outbound tourism by Chinese residents to Russia reached 1.0394 million visits, an annual increase of 209.3%; China received 1.5035 million inbound tourists from Russia, an annual increase of 115.1%.