Britain to relax visa rules for Chinese tourists

Britain will start to issue a two-year multiple-entry visa for Chinese tourists beginning in 2016, said the British embassy in Beijing on Wednesday, prompted by an increasing number of lavish tourists from China.

With the new visa, tourists will be allowed to leave and return to the country without refreshing the paperwork for two years. The British government is considering introducing a 10-year multiple-entry visa in the future.

Chinese tourists are currently issued six-month visas at a cost of 85 pounds (around 130 U.S. dollars).

Britain will also expand its door-to-door fingerprint-collection service, a procedure in visa application, to 50 Chinese cities from the current 9, and build more visa application centers, the embassy said.

The new policy is seen as the latest move from Britain to attract Chinese tourists, whose generous spending in the country have supported employment and boosted the economy.

Chinese tourists currently contribute 500 million pounds annually to the British economy, spending an average of 2,688 pounds a visit. Visitors from China increased 35 percent year on year during April and June this year.

Overall, visitor visas issued to Chinese nationals almost trebled over the last 5 years, data from the embassy showed. Endi