By Chen Qide (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-03-06 17:05

The Consulate General of India Shanghai yesterday, March 5, inaugurated the Chinese visa application center (VAC) there to provide services for the growing number of Chinese tourists to India.

The inauguration comes in the wake of the Beijing VAC launch in January. The VAC will be run by VFS Global Services Pvt Ltd and will process visa applications from residents in Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, said Consul General Vishnu Prakash.

"In due course, satellite centers will be set up in East China's Hangzhou and Nanjing cities," he said.

Kishen Singh, Vice President of VFS, added that VFS Global will eventually operate 12 such centers throughout the Chinese mainland.

Consulate sources said half a million tourists went to and from India last year, but that figure accounted for a very small portion of the 40 million Chinese citizens traveling abroad last year.

The Consul General said the number of visas issued by the Consulate in Shanghai have doubled over the past two years and breached 30,000 this year.

"This is probably due to the rapid increase in bilateral exchanges and travel," he said.

Trade between China and India reached $38 billion last year, and is expected to jump to $60 billion by 2010, Prakash said.

He called upon travel agents to offer Chinese travelers imaginative tour packages, as they are keen to experience India and in particular Buddhist heritage sites there.

An India tourism office will be established in Beijing soon to boost bilateral tourism, and additional flights between the two countries will also be introduced in the near future.

Singh said India's flagship carrier Air India is planning to commence direct flights between New Delhi and Shanghai shortly.