Chinese tourists are expected to gain access to the United States soon as the two countries are likely to reach an agreement to grant the US Authorized Destination Status by the end of this year, the Oriental Morning Post reported today.

The second round of negotiations is scheduled to kick off in the middle of this month, said Du Jiang, deputy chief of the National Tourism Administration.

The US Department of Commerce hopes the negotiations will be completed within this year, Du said.

"If the negotiation fares well, we also hope it can yield results within this year," Du said.

Once the deal is signed, Chinese people will be able to travel to the US with a tourist visa.

Eighty-six countries and regions including Germany, South Korea and Japan currently have Authorized Destination Status, the report said.

The volume of people travelling between China and the United States hit 2.35 million last year, according to the figure released by the National Tourism Administration.

(Shanghai Daily November 8, 2007)