Tours between China and Russia have become popular since their 'tourism year' in 2012, travel agencies said on Friday.

The tourism year is a new strategy to improve the Sino-Russian strategic cooperative partnership and boost friendship between the countries, the China National Tourism Administration said in a recent statement.

Since the tourism year began on March 22, almost 400 activities, including summer camps and business studies, have been conducted in the two countries, attracting large numbers of visitors to engage in cross-border travel, the statement said.