Published on: 2026-05-04
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian –
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Saint Petersburg, May 4 /Xin Hua/ — Active work is underway in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg to attract Chinese tourists; the Welcome China comprehensive project has been relaunched in the city. Chairman of the Committee for Tourism Development of the Saint Petersburg Administration, Evgeny Pankevich, spoke about this to Xin Hua in an interview today.
“Last year, we were visited by 300 thousand Chinese tourists. In 2019, there were more than 1 million, so we have something to strive for. But I am confident that we will quickly follow this path, reach this milestone, and then surpass it,” said the Russian official. According to him, the city will achieve this by 2030.
Energetic efforts are currently being applied to achieve the set goal. “We have revived the Welcome China project, which was previously postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. After President Vladimir Putin’s decision to introduce a visa-free regime for China, we are confident that there will be a significant increase in tourist flow,” noted E. Pankevich. Within the framework of the Welcome China project, it is planned to create a registry of hotels in the city oriented towards Chinese tourists. The program includes increasing the number of tourism industry employees familiar with the specifics of Chinese communication, as well as training personnel with basic knowledge of the Chinese language.
St. Petersburg is actively working on promoting the city’s recognition on the Neva River in China. “We are now confident that by 2027-2029 we will be featured on the WeChat page about Petersburg. The Visit Petersburg website has been translated into Chinese. Every year, we participate in the main tourism exhibition in China,” said the committee chairman. He added that St. Petersburg annually organizes roadshows/series of off-site events, presentations, and personal meetings in various cities of China, joined by museums and theaters.
According to E. Pankevich, the growth in the number of Chinese tourists plays an important role for the city. “Today, we see China as one of the key points of tourism growth in Saint Petersburg,” he emphasized. –0–
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