Russia's Chinese Workers: Nearly 90,000 Chinese Citizens Entered for Work in First Half of 2026; Over 1.5 Million Foreigners Hold Work Patents
Chinese workers in Russia have a new official count: according to figures from Russian government agencies reported by TASS, 89,600 Chinese citizens entered Russia for work in the first half of 2026. The largest group entering for work came from Uzbekistan, at 1.178 million people.
More than 494,500 citizens of Tajikistan entered for work in the same period, followed by 289,000 from Kyrgyzstan, 122,600 from Kazakhstan and 89,600 from China. They were followed by Armenia at 88,600, Azerbaijan at 62,400, India at 27,400, Turkmenistan at 13,400 and Turkey at 8,300.
Citizens of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan must obtain a work patent to work legally in Russia. Citizens of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Armenia are exempt, as their countries belong to the Eurasian Economic Union.
According to Russia's Interior Ministry, more than 1.504 million foreign nationals worked in Russia under patents from January to September 2026, 404,000 fewer than in the same period of 2025. The regions with the most patent-holding workers were Moscow with 437,600, down from 504,700 a year earlier; Moscow Oblast with 268,100; St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast with 162,400 combined; Sverdlovsk Oblast with 38,600; and Tatarstan with 36,200.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：莫斯科国际商务中心。照片：Pasquale Paolo Cardo，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。Photo: The Moscow International Business Center. Photo: Pasquale Paolo Cardo, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
