China welcomes more foreign friends to come for mutually beneficial cooperation: spokesperson

BEIJING, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Personnel exchanges between China and other countries have increased significantly recently, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday, adding that China welcomes more foreign friends to come and discover opportunities for vibrant and mutually beneficial cooperation.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a daily press briefing when asked to comment on news that in the first quarter of this year, China saw more than 141 million entry and exit trips, marking a year-on-year increase of 117.8 percent.

Wang said that the increase in personnel exchanges between China and other countries benefited from the resumption of flights, the implementation of entry facilitation measures, and increase in the number of countries with mutual visa exemption.

Wang noted that to make it easier for foreigners to come to China, the country has implemented a raft of measures including visa optimization and visa-free entry for foreign tourist groups on cruise ships, and actively addressed difficulties facing foreign travelers such as mobile payment.

The facilitation for personnel exchanges between China and other countries has strongly promoted the recovery of global tourism and international economic and trade exchanges, and enhanced people-to-people exchanges and mutual understanding among the people, Wang added.

"It is believed that the ties between China and the rest of the world will become ever closer in the future," Wang said, adding that China welcomes more foreign friends to come to the country, write more stories of exchanges between China and other countries, and discover more opportunities for vibrant and mutually beneficial cooperation.