Ease visa rules for mainlanders: Expert

Foreign countries and regions need to relax visa regulations for mainland tourists if they want to use the burst of potential outbound travelers from the mainland to their advantage, said a tourism book released yesterday.

Many countries and regions now eye China as an important market for tourism that has stood strong in the face of the global economic slowdown, wrote Zhang Guangrui, director of the tourism research center with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in China's Tourism Green Book. But those countries continue to have visa requirements, making Chinese think twice before traveling.

A report released earlier by the World Economic Forum ranked the Chinese mainland 47th among 133 destinations by its overall competitiveness, but placed the mainland at 128th position for its visa policy toward visitors.