China welcomes the United States' new policy to simplify its visa application process for Chinese nationals, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday.

Spokesman Liu Weimin made the remark at a daily press briefing when asked to comment on the new visa application policy.

Liu said China hopes to negotiate with the U.S. to further simplify the visa application process and make the personnel exchange convenient based on equality and mutual benefit.

The new U.S. visa application policy shortens the application process to three weeks, and Chinese applicants can renew their visas that have expired for less than four years without further interviews.

The U.S. embassy has also added 50 visa officers to its China service as the agency's visa-processing capacity in China could increase up to 40 percent this year, according to the embassy in Beijing.