UK hopes to welcome more Chinese visitors

The United Kingdom is reviewing its visa policies to make it easier for Chinese tourists to travel to the country as part of a worldwide marketing campaign to encourage tourists, business leaders and students to come to Britain.

"We're looking at our entire visa policy to see whether we can make it easier for people who do want to visit UK as tourists to benefit from a more streamlined and quick process," said Jeremy Hunt, the UK's secretary of state for culture, Olympics, media and sport.

"We made substantial improvements last year and we'll continue to review whether we can do better," Hunt said at a news conference on Wednesday in Shanghai for the launch of the UK's GREAT Campaign.

China has seen a rapid increase in outbound travel in recent years and Chinese tourists are spending handsomely during their overseas trips.

Figures from the China National Tourism Administration showed that Chinese people made 70.25 million visits to other countries or regions last year, making the country the largest source of outbound tourists in Asia.

But according to Hunt, the number of Chinese tourists to the UK stands at around 120,000 a year, a small share of the approximately 3 million Chinese traveling to Europe every year.

"I think that is pitifully low," said Hunt, who meanwhile underscored the challenge of deterring those aiming to immigrate to the country illegally.

British students perform in front of the promotion board for the GREAT Campaign, an event initiated by the UK government, in Shanghai, on Wednesday.