MOSCOW, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The visa-free travel policy between China and Russia has promoted cross-border tourism and people-to-people exchanges, giving lasting impetus to the bilateral ties, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Thursday.
Answering a question from Xinhua at a regular press briefing, Zakharova said that with the implementation of the visa-free policy, cross-border tourism between Russia and China has grown steadily, with a significant increase in the number of travelers.
Zakharova said Russia welcomes visitors from China and other countries. She added that Russia is working to create a more comfortable travel environment for foreign visitors by developing new tourist routes, fostering specialized industry clusters and building modern infrastructure.
Noting the rich cultural and tourism resources of both countries, Zakharova said travel helps deepen mutual understanding of each other's cultures and traditions, promotes people-to-people exchanges, strengthens the traditional friendship between Russia and China, and gives lasting impetus to the development of bilateral relations.
Zakharova also noted that although the Russia-China Years of Culture have successfully concluded, the large number of cultural and people-to-people cooperation projects held during that period had shown great potential, and the momentum will continue.
She added that celebrations of the traditional Chinese New Year have in recent years become an integral hallmark of wintertime in Moscow, while Russia's traditional Maslenitsa festival has also attracted wide interest in China. ■