China News Service, Heihe, September 12th. Title: From "check-in tour" to "life circle", visa-free travel boosts cross-border consumption between China and Russia
Author Wang Lin Meng Lili
Chive box has recently become a popular delicacy among Russian tourists. It is also a popular meal at the Heihe International Morning Market and is called "Oriental Pizza" by them. Starting from September 15, 2025, China will pilot a visa-free policy for Russia. In the past year, cross-border consumption between the two countries has upgraded from a "check-in tour" to an immersive and normalized "life circle."
Heihe, China, and Blagoveshchensk, Russia, face each other across the Heilongjiang River. They are the "Sino-Russian Twin Cities" hundreds of meters apart. Relying on the advantages of the water transport terminal and the dual ports of the China-Russia Heilongjiang Bridge, the Heihe Port has realized an all-weather customs clearance pattern of "both land and water, day and night". As of September 11, 2026, the number of tourists entering Russia at Heihe Port has increased by 110% year-on-year.
At five o'clock in the morning, the sky was slightly bright, and the Heihe International Morning Market was already very popular. There is a long queue in front of the steaming egg burger stall, and Russian tourists are ordering skillfully with RMB in hand. Stall owners speak fluent Russian to attract customers, and fresh fruits and vegetables such as raspberries and blueberries are packed into shopping bags. Fresh scenes of "daily cross-border life" are staged every day.
Stall owner Wu Yushuang said: "After the visa exemption, the two-way passenger flow between China and Russia has increased significantly. Many Russian tourists arrive early in the morning to eat steamed buns, soy milk, millet porridge, chive boxes and other breakfasts, and then return to work. Every weekend and holiday, there are tourists staying for two days for leisure consumption. This kind of exchange has become the norm."
After the market closes, business districts such as Huafu Mall and Russian Commodity Street become lively. Shoes and hats, children's clothing, small household appliances, bedding, and local specialties are all categories that Russian tourists compete to buy. Anna Viktorovna, a tourist from Magadan, Russia, came to Heihe with her family. She said: "The quality of Chinese pillows is very good. I want to choose bedding and clothes."
As night falls, the Heihe International Night Market lights up the night scene of the border town, becoming an iconic consumption scene of the cross-border night economy between China and Russia. Northeastern Chinese dialects and Russian are intertwined, and the aromas of barbecued skewers, seafood, pot-roasted pork and Russian-style ribs blend together. Chinese and Russian tourists sit around the outdoor dining tables. Eva Mayeva, a tourist from Sakhalin, Russia, said: "I bought a beautiful hat and now I plan to have a beer."
A set of data confirms the vitality of the night economy in border towns between China and Russia: On April 15, 2026, the first day of the opening of the Heihe International Night Market, the passenger flow exceeded 30,000, and the turnover reached 1 million yuan (RMB, the same below). In the normal operation stage, the average daily reception of tourists is about 15,000, and the average daily revenue is stable at around 500,000 yuan. As of August 30, 2026, the total revenue of merchants was approximately 78 million yuan.
Cross-border consumption continues to heat up, and urban supporting facilities continue to upgrade. Heihe promotes the construction of the "15-minute convenient service circle" and has deployed 2,800 commercial outlets in 15 communities in the urban area. Bilingual signs are scattered all over the streets, and there are related apps to match the travel needs of Russian tourists, converting transit "traffic" into consumption "increments."
Li Xiaoyu, deputy director of the Heihe Municipal Commerce Bureau, introduced that Heihe will embed Russian services into communities, business districts and scenic spots to promote the upgrade of the entire chain of "food, accommodation, travel, shopping and entertainment". In the next step, Heihe will optimize tax refund outlets and add Russian service windows, making Heihe a convenient, heart-warming, and interconnected “reception room” for the Sino-Russian border town.
