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talkpoliticsRecently Russia and China agreed to let their citizens travel to each other's countries without a visa for short stays. On September 15 last year, China began a 1 year trial allowing Russian passport holders to enter China without a visa for up to 30 days for tourism, business, visits and transit. Russia followed on December 1 when President Putin signed a decree letting Chinese citizens enter Russia visa-free for up to 30 days under similar conditions. Both policies are set to run through September 14 this year.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/09/02/china-to-allow-visa-free-travel-for-russians-in-one-year-trial-a90402
Supporters describe these changes as steps to boost tourism, people ties and business travel across the long Russia-China border. Early reports from regions near the frontier, like Primorsky Krai in Russia's Far East, show rising numbers of Chinese tourists since the policy took effect. Russia's Ministry of Economic Development has talked about attracting more visitors from China as part of tourism growth.
On political forums and in the media, people have debated what this means for Siberia and the Russian Far East. Some commentators claim that visa-free travel could lead to large numbers of Chinese moving into these regions, forming enclaves with their own schools and businesses. One such claim appeared in a Ukrainian news outlet warning about "Chinese enclaves" and mass settlement by 2030.
https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/china-s-visa-free-deal-with-russia-may-flood-1757857212.html
Now, it's important to separate opinion from fact. The current visa-free rules do not grant Chinese citizens the right to work, live permanently, settle or obtain residency in Russia. They simply allow short visits for tourism, business and family reasons. That's clearly stated in the official Russian decree.
There is no authoritative data showing a mass influx of Chinese settlers into Siberia or the Far East caused by this visa policy. Reliable demographic statistics from Russia's border regions have not documented sudden population shifts toward one nationality or another because of visa changes. Dramatic claims about "handover" or takeover narratives are speculative and not supported by verifiable census figures or migration records.
Russia's Far East and Siberia do face long-term demographic challenges, such as low birth rates and outmigration, and the government has explored various migration and settlement incentives over the years. But these are separate issues from the short-term visa-free arrangements agreed for 2025–26.
In practical terms, what we are likely to see from the visa-free regime is growth in cross-border travel, more tourists and business visitors coming and going, and deeper economic and cultural contact along the frontier. That can influence regional economies, but it is not the same as legal immigration or settlement. Any longer-term changes would depend on future laws, work permits and permanent residency policies that both countries would have to negotiate openly and formally.
In the longer term of course, the real question is not short-term tourism but geopolitics and resources. China is already the world's largest energy importer and a major consumer of raw materials, and Russia has become one of its key suppliers of oil, gas and timber since 2022. Projects such as the Power of Siberia pipeline, which began delivering Russian natural gas to China in 2019, show how central Siberia's resources are to this relationship. As Western sanctions push Russia economically closer to Beijing, the balance between the two countries is increasingly asymmetrical, with China as the stronger economy. That does not mean territorial ambitions or demographic takeover, for which there is no evidence. But it does mean that Siberia's long-term future will likely be shaped by deeper economic dependence on China's market and by Beijing's growing demand for energy, land routes and raw materials. In that sense, the strategic importance of Siberia in China's foreign policy is likely to grow, even if political control remains in Moscow's hands. For now.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/09/02/china-to-allow-visa-free-travel-for-russians-in-one-year-trial-a90402
Supporters describe these changes as steps to boost tourism, people ties and business travel across the long Russia-China border. Early reports from regions near the frontier, like Primorsky Krai in Russia's Far East, show rising numbers of Chinese tourists since the policy took effect. Russia's Ministry of Economic Development has talked about attracting more visitors from China as part of tourism growth.
On political forums and in the media, people have debated what this means for Siberia and the Russian Far East. Some commentators claim that visa-free travel could lead to large numbers of Chinese moving into these regions, forming enclaves with their own schools and businesses. One such claim appeared in a Ukrainian news outlet warning about "Chinese enclaves" and mass settlement by 2030.
https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/china-s-visa-free-deal-with-russia-may-flood-1757857212.html
Now, it's important to separate opinion from fact. The current visa-free rules do not grant Chinese citizens the right to work, live permanently, settle or obtain residency in Russia. They simply allow short visits for tourism, business and family reasons. That's clearly stated in the official Russian decree.
There is no authoritative data showing a mass influx of Chinese settlers into Siberia or the Far East caused by this visa policy. Reliable demographic statistics from Russia's border regions have not documented sudden population shifts toward one nationality or another because of visa changes. Dramatic claims about "handover" or takeover narratives are speculative and not supported by verifiable census figures or migration records.
Russia's Far East and Siberia do face long-term demographic challenges, such as low birth rates and outmigration, and the government has explored various migration and settlement incentives over the years. But these are separate issues from the short-term visa-free arrangements agreed for 2025–26.
In practical terms, what we are likely to see from the visa-free regime is growth in cross-border travel, more tourists and business visitors coming and going, and deeper economic and cultural contact along the frontier. That can influence regional economies, but it is not the same as legal immigration or settlement. Any longer-term changes would depend on future laws, work permits and permanent residency policies that both countries would have to negotiate openly and formally.
In the longer term of course, the real question is not short-term tourism but geopolitics and resources. China is already the world's largest energy importer and a major consumer of raw materials, and Russia has become one of its key suppliers of oil, gas and timber since 2022. Projects such as the Power of Siberia pipeline, which began delivering Russian natural gas to China in 2019, show how central Siberia's resources are to this relationship. As Western sanctions push Russia economically closer to Beijing, the balance between the two countries is increasingly asymmetrical, with China as the stronger economy. That does not mean territorial ambitions or demographic takeover, for which there is no evidence. But it does mean that Siberia's long-term future will likely be shaped by deeper economic dependence on China's market and by Beijing's growing demand for energy, land routes and raw materials. In that sense, the strategic importance of Siberia in China's foreign policy is likely to grow, even if political control remains in Moscow's hands. For now.
(no subject)
Date: 26/2/26 08:16 (UTC)On the other hand, the far far east does share a long border with China, and it's relatively permeable. You just need the means, and that generally takes the form of a job or a contract...
No, I think you're right. There's a lot of racist muttering about this, but it is mainly a tourism and industry thing, not a migration thing. Tourism dollars are nice, but I suspect Moscow also wants to try and soften its own people's deep racism because it's been interfering with trade.
* Okay, maybe I'll soften that a bit. It's a shitty place to live ten months out of twelve.