Insiders say the new US visa application policy for Chinese, which took effectMonday, will benefit the tourism industries of both countries.
业内人士称,周一起开始施行的中国人赴美签证新政策将使两国的旅游业获益。

The new policy shortens the visa application process to three weeks, and Chinese applicants can renew their visas that have expired for less than four years without further interviews.
新签证政策将签证申请周期缩短至三周,并且中国签证持有人若在签证失效48个月内重新续签,将免除面试要求。

The US embassy has also added 50 visa officers to its China service.
同时,美使馆还向中国增派了50名签证官。

Its visa-processing capacity in China is likely to increase up to 40 percent this year, accordingto Gary Locke, US ambassador to China.
据美驻华大使骆家辉表示,今年美方处理中方签证申请的能力将提高40%。

"This is definitely good news for domestic travel agencies running overseas tourism services,"said Wei Bin, director of Vacation Service Department from the travel agency website .
对国内经营出境游业务的旅行社来说,这无疑是一个好消息。”途牛旅游网度假产品部总监魏斌告诉记者。

Wei said America became a new tourism market for China as group tours to the United Statesonly started to be allowed in June 2008, when the United States began granting Approved Destination Status (ADS) visas to Chinese tourists.Many Chinese tourists have preferred to visit Europe because it was easier for them to get visas.
“他表示,美国在中国出境游市场仍是个新兴目的地,自2008年6月美国宣布向中国正式开放ADS(团队游)签证后,国内各大旅行社才开始正式组团出售。许多游客因为较为简便的签证手续而选择欧洲游,美国游一直没能火起来。

Zhang Huiling, manager of America section with the Overseas Tour Department from the China Youth Travel Service (CYTS), said the time it took to get a visa to the United Stated affected people's willingness to visit there. "
主要问题是约签时间过长,直接影响了游客赴美的热情。”中青旅出境游事业部美洲中心经理张惠玲表示。

We used to advise our clients to register 50 days, and even 100 days for statutory holidays,ahead of schedule. Once the clients had other plans, they were likely to give up their trip to the US," said Zhang.
她说,一般我们都会建议游客提前50天左右报名,而在国庆节和春节黄金周,游客至少要提前100天报名。由于报名时间过长,一旦游客临时有事,可能就去不了了。

As tourists who went to the United States less than four years ago can renew their visa without interview under the new policy, more people would probably separate their travel to the several trips, she said. "
她表示,新的赴美签证政策实施后,过去等候面签的时长将缩短到3周以内,许多游客可能把他们的美国行分几次实行。

"A long holiday may be tiring, and also a luxury for white-collars, who have limited annual leave," said Zhang, adding CYTS will soon introduce short-term group trips, about eight days for a round trip, to the United States.
张经理补充说,长假对于年假有限的白领来说太过劳累,也太过奢侈,中青旅将推出几个短期美国团体游产品,旅程大约8天的时间。

Apart from China, the US also has simplified the visa application process for Brazilian applicants.
除中国之外,美国在巴西也将推出类似的签证便捷化措施。

Zhang Jianping, director of the international economic cooperation department from the Academy of Macroeconomic Research under the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said the United States is relying more on new economies such as China and Brazil. "The simplified visa application will help boost the consumption of Chinese tourists in the US,"he said.
对此,国家发改委宏观经济研究院国际经济合作室主任张建平认为,中国、巴西等新兴经济体已经成为美国经济发展的重要依赖对象,美国此次简化签证程序,无疑将吸引大量中国游客到美国消费、购物。