Israel will soon issue 10-year multiple-entry visas to Chinese nationals for business or tourism purposes, making it the fourth country, after the U.S., Canada and South Korea, to have such an arrangement with Beijing, according to The Times of Israel.
According to official Weibo account of the Israeli Embassy in China, China and Israel will sign the agreement within the week. Hainan Airlines will offer direct flights between Beijing and Tel Aviv starting in April.
"The unprecedented bilateral visa agreement will be signed on March 29," Efrat Perri, spokesperson of the Israeli Embassy in China, told the Global Times.
According to statistics released by the Israel Ministry of Tourism, the number of Chinese tourists to Israel has been increasing over the last three years, with an over 30 percent increase from each year to the next. The statistics shows that Chinese nationals made 47,400 trips to Israel in 2015, 43 percent more than in 2014.
The direct flights between Beijing and Tel Aviv will be the first direct flights between China and Israel operated by a Chinese airline. According to official website of Hainan Airlines, the airline already operates flights between the two cities, but those flights are not direct.
