A senior US official in charge of visa affairs says the US Embassy in Beijing has improved its visa processing system and that more Chinese applicants will be able to have their applications approved more efficiently.

In the face of growing criticism over the difficulties faced by Chinese people getting visas for the US since the September 11 attacks, US Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affair Maura Harty visited Beijing on Wednesday to assure Chinese people that the US was still "an open and welcoming society."

"America is open for travel. Americans welcome travelers to the United States. We want to make sure that everyone, both American citizens and travelers in any kind of visa category, have a safe and secure visit to the United States and that the visa process is as efficient as it possibly can be."

The US Embassy in Beijing started to fingerprint visa applicants a year ago, a measure that it says is aimed at boosting security.

In her visit to Beijing, Harty defended the fingerprinting requirement for applicants, saying it was necessary and was a quick and efficient process that took less than a minute.

However, many Chinese applicants consider the measure discriminatory, as applicants in some other countries don't have to have their fingerprints taken.

The US issues about 180,000 non-immigrant visas to Chinese citizens each year, and currently there are more than 60,000 Chinese students studying in the US.

Harty said the US government was doing everything it could to improve the visa application process so that more Chinese students were able to study in the US instead of going elsewhere.

The British Embassy in China opened a visa center in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on Wednesday, the United Kingdom's second visa center in the Chinese mainland.

Tim Summers, consul-general of UK's Chongqing Consulate, said the Chongqing center will receive applications from Chongqing and the neighboring provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou, and relevant interviews can also be held at UK's Chongqing Consulate.

According to Summers, UK plans to establish a nationwide visa application network in the Chinese mainland by setting up 12 visa centers in major Chinese cities including Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Chengdu, Hangzhou and Nanjing.

The first UK visa center opened in Beijing last month.

Summers said that when the centers open, Chinese applicants can choose the nearest one and will not necessarily need to go to Beijing for a visa and interview.

(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2005)