Russia plans to launch a visa-free regime with China, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia in the near future. This was stated in an information brief for the media prepared for the strategic session “Development of Tourism in the Russian Federation”, chaired by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

According to the document, by 2030 Russia aims to increase the number of inbound tourist trips by 11 million — reaching a total of 16 million.

On September 15, China introduced a one-year trial 30-day visa-free regime for Russian citizens. Earlier, on September 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would implement a similar regime for Chinese nationals.

In July, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that the visa-free agreement with Saudi Arabia was in its final stage of preparation. Plans to lift visa requirements for Malaysian citizens were first reported in March.