WASHINGTON, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Tourism exchanges have always been an important component of China-U.S. relations, said a Chinese diplomat in the United States at a recent symposium, calling on the two countries to expand and deepen cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

Jing Quan, charge d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in the United States, gave the remarks at the China-U.S. Tourism Symposium held on Feb. 29, stressing the need for the two countries to actively implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries in their San Francisco summit meeting.

Jing told more than 40 participants from the two countries at the symposium that China has recently taken effective steps to simplify visa application for foreigners traveling to China and promote the facilitation of foreign payments in China. With joint efforts of both China and the United States, the number of direct flights will increase to 100 per week by the end of March.

The symposium is expected to thoroughly discuss the current difficulties and challenges affecting mutual visits between Chinese and U.S. tourists and promote the swift recovery of bilateral tourism to pre-pandemic levels, the diplomat said.

Gao Zheng, director-general of the Bureau of International Exchanges and Cooperation of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, introduced China's views on promoting tourism cooperation between the two countries, and the preparations for the 14th China-U.S. Tourism Leadership Summit, and responded to questions raised by representatives of U.S. tourism enterprises.

Participants engaged in in-depth exchanges, brainstormed ideas, and jointly explored the prospects for future tourism cooperation, actively working toward an early realization of the vision set forth by Chinese and U.S. leaders in San Francisco.