People walk in snow at the Red Square in Moscow, Russia, on Nov. 15, 2025. Moscow on Friday saw its first snowfall since the beginning of winter this year. Photo: Xinhua

Russia's reported announcement of visa-free entry for Chinese visitors triggered an immediate surge in travel demand. Within less than an hour, air-ticket searches to Russia on Chinese travel platform Fliggy jumped more than 8-fold from the previous day, pushing same-day bookings nearly five times higher compared to the previous day, the company told the Global Times in a statement on Monday.

Moscow, Murmansk, Saint Petersburg, Vladivostok and Irkutsk are among the Russian cities that Chinese travelers are most interested in, according to Fliggy.

A decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin allows Chinese citizens to travel to Russia visa-free for tourism and business purposes from now until September 14, 2026, according to CCTV News. The visa-free stay is limited to 30 days.

The swift and enthusiastic response from Chinese consumers was also evident across other major travel platforms. Several platforms told the Global Times that searches for flights to Russia had surged to near-capacity levels.

Thirty minutes after the visa-free announcement was reported, another China-based platform, Tongcheng Travel, told the Global Times that searches related to Russia had more than doubled.

In addition, data from Qunar showed an immediate spike in searches for Russia-bound flights following the news. As of 5 pm on Monday, the most popular departure cities for travel to Russia included Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou in South China's Guangdong Province.

Searches for routes to Saint Petersburg and Moscow saw particularly strong gains compared with the previous hour. Searches for the Hangzhou-Saint Petersburg route jumped 3.6 times, while searches for flights departing from Guangzhou doubled and those from Beijing rose 47 percent. Meanwhile, searches for the Beijing-Moscow route climbed 44 percent, and inquiries for flights departing from Shenzhen and Chongqing were also up more than 30 percent, according to Qunar.

Chinese experts said that, drawing on the surge in Russian arrivals after the previous visa-free arrangement, bookings for flights, hotels and local travel services in Russia are likely to see a marked increase. They noted that the policy will broaden travel patterns by boosting demand for in-depth tours, business visits and cultural experiences, further elevating the quality of China-Russia cross-border tourism cooperation.

This round of mutual visa exemption is a comprehensive arrangement open to all regions and marks a major step forward in bilateral cooperation with landmark significance, Zhang Hong, a research fellow at the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday. 

Zhang noted that previous group visa-free or border tourism arrangements between the two sides were limited to certain adjacent regions.

Chinese travelers have long felt a cultural affinity with Russia — older generations grew up with Russian music, theater and other cultural works, while younger travelers are drawn to the architecture and history of cities such as Saint Petersburg, said Bian Yongzu, a senior researcher at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations. As a result, demand for travel to Russia has long existed, and the visa-free policy is now helping to further unlock that potential, Bian told the Global Times.

Industry observers say the move will extend the tourism and consumption momentum created by China's earlier visa facilitation for Russian visitors, which has already boosted Russians' willingness to travel to China.

To further facilitate cross-border travel, China expanded its list of visa-free countries and, from September 15, 2025 to September 14, 2026, will grant visa-free entry to Russian citizens holding ordinary passports, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Data from Trip.com showed that, as of the press time, travel orders related to Russia have risen sharply since China introduced visa-free entry for Russian visitors. Inbound air-ticket bookings from Russia were up 190 percent year-on-year, while hotel bookings jumped 213 percent.

Bian noted that greater people-to-people exchanges will strengthen public goodwill and create a better foundation for economic collaboration. More frequent travel will also help identify and resolve technical issues such as visa and customs procedures, enabling smoother exchanges and deeper cooperation across economic and cultural fields.

"Growing political trust has paved the way for broader cultural and social exchanges, yielding clear progress in people-to-people ties," Zhang said. He noted that the comprehensive visa-free arrangement reflects the maturity of bilateral relations and is expected to spur further cooperation in economic and other areas.