The first two bodies were found on Saturday. A team of Russian and Chinese rescuers is continuing the search for the remaining three Russian group members, and their two local guides.
A ministry spokesman said: "The body of a Russian tourist was sighted from the air during a Mi-17 helicopter flight. The body has already been taken to Hotan."
The group of six Russians and their guides set off on August 22 on a canoe trip down the Yurungkax River, in a remote area of the Kunlun Mountains, one of the longest mountain chains in Asia. The group failed to turn up at a designated meeting point on September 2.
Earlier, China's Xinhua news agency quoted a local Russian-language interpreter as saying the canoeists might have been swept away by landslides or attacked by bandits who operate in the area. The agency said the youngest missing tourist was 25, and the oldest 47.
On September 6 the Russian Canoe Federation requested help from the Russian Embassy in China to find the missing tourists. Over 1,000 rescuers have been involved in the search.
