Visa.jpg (Photo : Reuters)
China issued on Wednesday the first batch of visas with an extended validity of 10 years to U.S. citizens in Washington, according to a Xinhua News Agency report.
The issuance is in accordance with a new agreement signed by China and the U.S. increasing the term of visas granted to each country's citizens.
The deal is aimed at boosting the trade and cultural ties between the two economic powerhouses.
The first one to receive the 10-year visa to China with multiple entries is Edmund Downie, a 23-year-old researcher.
"I'm glad that I've been granted the honor of being the first American to receive the 10-year visa," said Downie.
Downie, who will be on his fifth trip to China, said that he would be traveling to Kunming City in southern China.
"I am excited to be able to keep going to China for the next ten years and not have to worry about coming back to the visa office," he said.
The term extension was announced during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) week in Beijing.
American and Chinese students, meanwhile, will be granted visas with a validity extended to five years from the previous term of one year.
"It eases the process of visa acquisition and makes it more affordable," Downie remarked, adding that it will allow Americans to know more about China.
Ruan Ping, consul general of the Chinese Embassy in the U.S., said that he believes the new visa policy will improve the mutual understanding between the U.S. and China.
"It will greatly promote the people-to-people exchange between China and the U.S. and boost our economic and academic ties," the official said.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry issued the first 10-year U.S. visas to a number of Chinese citizens at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.
"You are literally helping to write the next great chapter of the history between the United States and China," Kerry told the group receiving the visas.
