There is no exact schedule for Chinese citizens to tour the US, said a spokesman with the National Tourism Administration, dispelling media reports that Chinese people are expected to be able to visit the US no later than the end of next year, Shanghai Daily reported.

"We have never said that the United States will be open to Chinese tourists next year," the spokesman stressed.

The National Tourism Administration has actually signed a tourism memo with the US, but there are no timetables available in the memo to date, said a spokesman with the China Travel International Ltd.

"We haven't received the related circulars from the National Tourism Administration, and there are no schedules available," said Dun Jidong, director of the planning department of the China Travel Service Head Office. "Signing the memo doesn't mean the US will be open to Chinese tourists, so we haven't yet discussed the tour itineraries," he added.

According to the Xinhua News, in Washington on December 6, He Guangwei, director general with the National Tourism Administration, signed a tourism cooperation memo with Grant Aldonas, Under-Secretary of Commerce of the US.

The memo means that the cooperation between the Chinese and US tourism industries is entering a new stage, He said. The US government is paying much attention to cooperation with China in the tourism sector, Grant Aldonas stressed.

(Shanghai Daily December 10, 2004)