Transit zone

Hello,
My daughter and me are planning to fly Amsterdam to Vladivostok via Beijing in August. The flights arrive and depart in/from the same airport. Transit time between flights around 12 hours and our travel agent told us that we can't leave the transit zone if the transit time is shorter than 24 hours. We have Russian citizens. Could you please confirm if we can get the 24 hour free transit visa and leave the transit zone?