'China And Russia Ready For Quick Travel Resumption'

Beijing and Moscow are ready to resume mutual travel as soon as possible and deepen their strategic cooperation, ambassador to Russia, Zhang Hanhui, told Russian state TASS news agency in remarks published on Wednesday.

The statement came a day after Beijing decided to suspend the issue of new travel visas for South Korea and Japan, and said other countries’ entry restrictions should not be discriminatory.

"In the new historical conditions, we are ready, together with our Russian friends, to continuously deepen comprehensive strategic cooperation, restore mutual travel of citizens as soon as possible," TASS cited Zhang as saying.

The two countries signed a "no limits" strategic partnership in February 2022, and in April, Moscow and Beijing agreed to bring bilateral trade to US$200 billion by 2024.

"We are full of confidence that Chinese-Russian cooperation will receive a new big development, and the goal of bringing bilateral trade to US$200 billion, set by the heads of our states, will be achieved ahead of schedule," TASS cited the ambassador as saying. (Additional reporting by Reuters)