Published on: 2026-09-15
Source: People’s Republic of China — Translation
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Beijing, September 15 /Xinhua/ — As of September 14, passenger flow through the Heihe checkpoint in Heilongjiang Province /Northeast China/ since the beginning of 2026 has exceeded 1 million crossings, increasing by 56.18 percent year-on-year and reaching a new historical high for the same periods in previous years. This was reported by the unified information center of the convergent editorial team of the namesake city, citing data from the local border entry and exit control point.
In particular, during the indicated period, there were 505 thousand outbound trips and 495 thousand inbound trips, which is 55.21 percent and 57.19 percent more, respectively, than the previous year.
Russian woman Natalia became the millionth passenger among all tourists who crossed the Heihe border crossing this year. According to her, since the introduction of the visa-free regime, trips between the two countries have become increasingly convenient. She noted that she often comes to Heihe for shopping, to eat, and to relax.
It should be recalled that from September 15, 2025, to September 14, 2026, China has introduced on a trial basis a visa-free regime for Russian citizens holding ordinary foreign passports. Russian citizens with valid foreign passports can visit China under the visa-free regime for business activities, tourism, visiting relatives and friends, exchange visits, as well as for transit purposes. At the same time, their visa-free stay in China must not exceed 30 days.
Earlier this year, China and Russia decided to extend the mutual visa-free regime until December 31, 2027.
Data also showed that the summer season saw a peak in cross-border passenger train trips at the Heihe checkpoint: the average daily number of border crossings through this checkpoint exceeded 5,000 person-times, and their total number for that period amounted to 509,000 person-times, which is 45.5% more than the previous year. -0-
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