Japan and China have reached an agreement to expand the scope of visa issuance for Chinese tour groups visiting Japan.

Prospective visitors from the provinces of Shandong, Zhejiang and Liaoning as well as the city of Tianjin will be included in the expanded visa-issuance scheme, which will take effect within a month or two.

Currently, Japan only issues tourist visas to tour groups from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong Province. No individual tourists are granted visas except those who have relatives in Japan.

Japan says if the expansion plan does not result in any problems, it might take further steps to allow tourists from other parts of China.

Japan's tourism industry suffered huge losses in fiscal 2003 due to the war in Iraq and SARS. China is seen as a potential major source of tourists.

(CRI.com June 26, 2004)