China to further optimize visa policy to facilitate cross-border travel: spokesperson

BEIJING, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- China's visa-free policy for travelers from six countries has yielded positive results, and the foreign ministry will continue to optimize its visa policy to provide more convenience for cross-border travel, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the comment when asked to give an update on China's new unilateral visa-free policy opened on Dec. 1 to ordinary passport holders from six countries, namely France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia.

According to the statistics released by China's National Immigration Administration, nearly 18,000 people from the six countries entered China from Dec. 1 to 3, a daily increase of 39 percent compared to Nov. 30, Wang said.

He added that about 7,000 people come to China through the visa-free policy, and the figure accounts for 39 percent of the total number of entries from six countries.

"This fully shows that the unilateral visa-free policy has indeed brought tangible convenience to the people of the countries," said Wang.