Consul General of Russia in Harbin: The resumption of group visa free travel between Russia and China is imminent | Group | Harbin
On July 21st local time, Sergei Linnik, Consul General of Russia in Harbin, stated that China and Russia are completing the necessary final procedures for resuming visa free group tourism.
According to a report by Russian news agency, at the end of June this year, the News Office of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development announced that the list of Chinese travel agencies engaged in visa free group tours will be submitted to the Russian side within two weeks, and it is expected to implement group visa free tours starting this summer.
Consul General Linnik bluntly stated, "We are guided by the information provided by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development and hope to resume visa free travel exchanges between our country and China in the near future." He stated that the competent authorities of the two countries, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, are actively working on this issue and completing the necessary procedures.
In February of this year, the Russian Ministry of Economic Development announced that the intergovernmental group tourism visa free agreement had resumed its effectiveness, but the department was still waiting for the latest list of Chinese companies planning to arrange travel groups to Russia under the agreement. In May of this year, the Minister of Economic Development of Russia, Maxim Leschetnikov, clearly stated that Russia has sent a list of tourism institutions to China that are preparing to receive Chinese tourists from 2023 to 2024.