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The European Chamber of Commerce in China welcomes the ADS (authorized destination status) agreement approved at the EU-China Summit in Beijing at the end of last month, China Daily learned from the European Chamber on Monday. The agreement means that Chinese tourists will be able to visit most EU (European Union) member countries.

This agreement will not only benefit the tourist industry in Europe and China, but will also encourage people-to-people contacts, as more citizens from each side get to know each other, said sources with the European Chamber based in Beijing.

The ADS agreement extends the approved tourist destination status to all EU countries except Denmark, Ireland and Britain.

The 10 new countries to join the EU in May 2004 will also be covered by this agreement, but as they are not yet members of the Schengen area, they will issue national visas for the interim period until they integrate fully into Schengen, the sources said. The Schengen area covers the 13 countries which have signed the convention implementing the Schengen Agreements of 1985 and 1990 on the free movement of persons and the standardization of border controls in Europe.

The ADS agreement will make traveling to EU countries more convenient for Chinese nationals in tour groups, giving them easier access to travel services, visas and foreign currency.

Before the advent of the ADS agreement, Chinese nationals could only get business visas to visit most European countries and they usually went there only on business.