US' new visa policy fuels boom in visitors

More Chinese are applying for a United States visa, pushing up the number of outbound tours to the US.

Last month, China and the US agreed to extend the validity of short-term tourist and business visas issued to each other's citizens from one to 10 years, and student and exchange visas from one to five years, to encourage more travel between the two countries.

The US embassy in Beijing currently processes several thousand visa applications each day, and over the last year the growth rate has been approximately 22 percent.