U.S. Issued 304, 374 Visas to Chinese

Filed at 6:18 a.m. ET

BEIJING (AP)
— Chinese citizens received the highest number of U.S. visas on record
last year as China’s economic power expanded, a U.S. Embassy official
said Friday.

The number of U.S. visas granted to Chinese had
fallen sharply with tighter security screening after the Sept. 11,
2001, terror attacks, but rebounded in the following years.

Last
year, the United States issued 304,374 nonimmigrant visas to Chinese
tourists, students and others, a 29 percent increase over 2004, said
Michael Regan, the U.S. consul general in charge of visas.

Chinese
citizens ”have more and more legitimate reasons both to travel for
business and tourism, and (as) students,” Regan said in an interview.

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