Full-scale air service between Russia and China may be resumed this year, China’s acting consul general in Yekaterinburg has told reporters.

"Yes, I think so," he said, answering to a reporter’s question.

However, the diplomat said it was too early to speak about reintroducing a visa-free regime.

Air service between Russia and China was suspended amid the novel coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Direct air traffic between the two nations resumed a while later, but the number of flights remains very limited.