China and Israel recently announced that mutual 10-year multiple-entry visas would be issued to their citizens in the future for travel related to business and tourism.

Among a raft of cooperation agreements signed during talks in Jerusalem between Vice-Premier Liu Yandong and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in March, the new visa arrangement makes China the first country with which Israel has entered into such an understanding.

Efrat Perri, a spokeswoman for the Israeli embassy in Beijing, says it could take up to a few months before Chinese can apply for the long-term visas.