President Xi has entrusted his Vice Premiers to deliver a diplomatic message for President Obama. (Photo : Reuters)
China and the United States are set to extend the validity of the short-term visas granted to each country's citizens, U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Monday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meet in Beijing.
The agreement will allow for the extension of the terms of multiple-entry short-term tourist and business visas for the two countries from one year to 10 years, according to Reuters.
The deal, according to Obama, will enhance trade and business relations between the world's two biggest economies.
In an accompanying statement, the White House said that student visas would also be extended from one year to five years.
"As a result of this arrangement, the United States hopes to welcome a growing share of eligible Chinese travelers, inject billions (of dollars) in the U.S. economy and create enough demand to support hundreds of thousands of additional U.S. jobs," the statement said.
With the deal, the U.S. would be able to take advantage of the surge in Chinese nationals traveling internationally, according to a senior U.S. official.
Currently, Chinese nationals comprise only 2 percent of tourists to the United States.
"We see this as a really big win," the U.S. said, adding that the country could generate 440,000 jobs by 2021 as an offshoot of the new deal, on top of $85 billion annual gains.
The term extension for Chinese nationals makes their visa validity on par with those citizens of countries that are close to the U.S., such as Brazil and some European countries, the Reuters report said.
