Wendy Zhang/ Shanghai Daily news
There is no exact schedule for Chinese citizens to tour the US, said a
spokesman with the National Tourism Administration, dispelling media reports
that Chinese people are expected to be able to visit the US no later than the
end of next year, eastday.com reported today.
"We have never said that the
United States will be open to Chinese tourists next year," the spokesman
stressed.
The National Tourism Administration has actually signed a tourism
memo with the US, but there are no timetables available in the memo to date,
said a spokesman with the China Travel International Ltd.
"We haven't
received the related circulars from the National Tourism Administration, and
there are no schedules available," said Dun Jidong, director of the planning
department of the China Travel Service Head Office. "Signing the memo doesn't
mean the US will be open to Chinese tourists, so we haven't yet discussed the
tour itineraries," he added.
According to the Xinhua News, in Washington on
December 6, He Guangwei, director general with the National Tourism
Administration, signed a tourism cooperation memo with Grant Aldonas,
Under-Secretary of Commerce of the US.
The memo means that the cooperation
between the Chinese and US tourism industries is entering a new stage, He said.
The US government is paying much attention to cooperation with China in the
tourism sector, Grant Aldonas stressed.