U.S. Travel Association announced that the United States and China will mutually extend the validity period for travel visas issued to each other’s eligible citizens.

U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow issued the following statement on news that the United States and China will mutually extend the validity period for travel visas issued to each other's eligible citizens:

"This policy move will harness the colossal and growing Chinese travel market for the direct benefit of U.S. job creation, exports and economic growth. The effects will be both strong and immediate.

"Kudos to the Obama administration for negotiating this deal that will deliver tangible progress towards meeting his strategic objectives. President Obama and his team have long been a receptive audience for policy suggestions that help rev the powerful economic engine that is international travel. The travel community is always heartened and gratified when those proposals become policy reality, as we are with this one, which U.S. Travel first offered in a 2011 international travel report.

"International travel dollars are some of the best medicine for any economy, and Chinese travel dollars are among the most potent of all for the U.S. Overseas visitors spend an average of $4,500 per trip, but for Chinese visitors the figure is $7,200, the largest of any country. We congratulate and thank the administration—and let me single out Secretaries Kerry, Pritzker and Johnson for their special efforts on this issue—for continuing to bolster inbound travel with adroit policymaking."