The United Kingdom recently opened a new visa application center in Beijing, with the aim of providing a better and more comfortable service for the ever increasing number of Chinese visitors traveling to the UK.

The new center is double the size of the one it replaces and is designed to ensure that appropriate facilities are available to cope with the increase in demand. According to the UK government it aims to be modern and welcoming, and it strives to provide a first class customer service.

In the first nine months of 2010, demand for UK visit visas in China has grown by nearly 50% compared to the previous year. By September 2010, more than 130,000 visas to visit the UK had been issued in China.

The new center also aims to provide better services to Chinese students who want to study in the UK. In the first nine months of this year, nearly 42,000 student visas were issued to Chinese nationals, an increase of 20% compared to 2009.