Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang answers questions at a press conference on June 24 Jordan Eberle Jersey , 2015. (Photofmprc.gov)
China has signed visa exemption agreements with 99 countries, making it much easier for Chinese passport holders to travel abroad, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang at a press conference on Tuesday.
Lu made the remarks following the news that the UK and Belgium announced to provide Chinese citizens with one-stop visa service in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, starting from July 1.
"We have noticed the measures announced by the UK and Belgium. These measures, as we believe, will not only facilitate visa application by Chinese citizens but also play a positive role in promoting bilateral exchanges and mutual understanding between our peoples," the spokesman said.
The number of Chinese citizens travelling overseas in recent years has increased dramatically. Citizens from Chinese mainland made more than 100 million overseas visits last year. Under the CPC Central Committee's guiding principle of governing for the people, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by stepping up its efforts, has made great progress in visa facilitation and has delivered more benefits to the general public, according to the ministry.
Last year, China and the U.S. announced reciprocal visa arrangements for business people, tourists and students. This year in the first five months alone, the number of Chinese business people and tourists travelling to the U.S. has increased by 31 percent over the same period last year.
China has so far signed visa exemption agreements for various passports with 99 countries and 59 visa simplification agreements or arrangements with 37 countries. In addition, 36 countries and regions have granted unilateral visa-on-arrival policies to Chinese citizens and another 11 countries and regions have unilaterally allowed Chinese citizens to visit without a visa. It has become much easier for Chinese passport holders to travel abroad, Lu said.
The Chinese government and the Foreign Ministry are working to make Chinese citizens' outbound trips not only easier but also safe and trouble-free. We will further intensify our consultation with relevant countries to promote visa facilitation and provide overseas Chinese with timely, efficient and high-quality consular protection and assistance so that they can enjoy a "fast-track" and smooth trips.
NAPLES, Italy, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Mario Balotelli came on in the second half to score a late equalizer as Group B winners Italy completed their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 2-2 draw against Armenia at home on Tuesday.
The hosts suffered a bad start to the game and Yura Movsisyan took advantage of Alberto Aquilani's poor clearance to put Armenia ahead in the fourth minute. Alessandro Florenzi pulled the hosts level in the 24th minute after meeting a pinpointed cross from Lorenzo Insigne.
Armenia goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky made good saves to deny the Italians the lead early in the second half before Henrikh Mkhitaryan put the visitors back in front in the 70th minute.
Balotelli, who missed last week's 2-2 draw in Denmark with a dose of flu, came to the rescue six minutes later to earn Italy a deserved point.
Cesare Prandelli's men have finished the qualifying campaign with 22 points after winning six of their 10 games. But two draws from their final two games could cost them the top seed status in the World Cup finals draw.
Prandelli said he was not concerned about that possibility.
"I am not worried about whether we are top seeds. The important thing was to qualify, we did that, and now we have to judge the performances to make the right choices for our final 23-man squad," he said.
He rued his side's bad performance in the first 20 minutes but was happy with their response to Armenia's goals.
"We started badly, very badly. The opening 20 minutes were embarrassing," he said. "From then, we reacted and had a good match."
"It was important for me to see players who never gave up and that was a positive sign. I told the lads they had to play good football and that now the World Cup campaign begins, so I' ll judge every single game," he said.
Defender Davide Astori seconded Prandelli's those remarks.
"We too know that we made a lot of mistakes in the opening 20 minutes and Armenia did well to take advantage, as they have quality in attack," he said.
"They started very aggressively and we misplaced too many passes and you cannot make mistakes like that in a World Cup qualifier, but we did well to react," he said.
Armeinia went into the encounter at the Stadio San Paolo needing to win to stand any chance of reaching the play-offs.
They enjoyed a great start and went in front through Movsisyan, who beat Italy goalkeeper Federico Marchetti from 12 yards.
Italy almost equalized midway through the first half when Insigne's powerful shot struck the far post. The Neapolitan Insigne continued to terrorize the Armenia defence and halfway through the firs half, his perfect cross towards the far post found his ex-under21 teammate Lorenzi who nodded the ball in.
"Playing with Lorenzo is easy, as he saw my movement and put the ball on my head," Florenzi said.
He also rued Italy's bad start of the game which they could have won.
"We didn't start the way we planned and unfortunately conceded that early goal, but did well to get the game back on track straight away. I think the 2-2 result does not reflect the match," he said.
Balotelli replaced Southampton forward Pablo Osvaldo early in the second half.
Just when the home side were playing at their best, Armenia went back in front, Mkhitaryan getting past his marker before heading Gevorg Ghazaryan's cross beyond Marchetti.
Italy soon drew level when Andrea Pirlo fed Balotelli in the box and he fired the ball towards the top-left corner wher. Cheap Jerseys China Cheap Authentic Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China Cheap NHL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap College Jerseys Authentic MLB Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys Throwback NFL Jerseys Cheap Custom Soccer Jerseys Cheap