South Africa has set up five additional visa centers in China in a bid to attract more Chinese tourists, Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba said on Wednesday.

Recently, South Africa has seen an increase in application volumes from China.

Tourist arrivals from China in January this year nearly doubled compared to January 2015, South Africa's Minister of Tourism Derek Hanekom said earlier this month.

In China, South Africa has seen the success of the decision to allow travel agencies to apply for visas on behalf of travellers, Hanekom said.

This was one of the moves by South Africa to ease visa regulations. Previously, tourists had to apply for visas in person.

Strict visa regulations introduced in 2014 led to a sharp decline in tourist arrivals in South Africa last year.

This prompted Gigaba to announce a 10-year multiple entry visa for BRICS partners last year. 

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