However, the visa-free policy is not only about the number of border crossings. It is also fundamentally altering how Chinese and Russian people travel to each other"s country. Rigid group tours have given way to booming, highly customized individual tourism. A trip used to require months of meticulous planning. Today, it might come from a spontaneous impulse, especially in the case of highly mobile younger urban middle class. Without a visa-free policy in place, an idea to fly to Saint Petersburg next weekend just to see a trendy ballet performance there or to rush to Guangzhou for fireworks would remain only a pipe dream. Now, it is routine reality.

　　The visa-free policy is not only about leisure and entertainment, but about learning and working together as well, as it also gives energy to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), education, and cultural exchanges. For instance, over the first three months of 2026, the number of contracts signed by Chinese and Russian SMEs increased by 57 percent compared to the first three months of 2025. Then, annual two-way academic mobility this year is likely to reach 100 thousand scholars this year.