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Vietnam opened a visa office Friday in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, in a bid to forge closer ties between the two neighboring countries.
The office will directly issue visas to Chinese travelers destined to Vietnam, who in the past had to go to Beijing or southern China's Guangzhou City for visa application.
Bui Hong Phuc, Vietnam's ambassador to China, said on the office's inaugural ceremony that Vietnam and China have been good neighbors, partners, brothers and friends.
The opening of the office indicates new development of the friendly relations between Vietnam and China and will help enhance cooperation between Vietnam and China's western regions, Bui added. Yunnan lies on the Sino-Vietnamese border.
Local tourist agencies said the new visa office will definitely help promote tourism on both sides.
In 2001 more than one million Chinese tourists crowded into Vietnam and some 700,000 Vietnamese visited China.
(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2002)
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