Chinese tourists will get more convenience with the help of newly launched Finland visa application centre in Beijing, Jari Gustafsson, Finland's ambassador to China said at the inauguration of the centre on Friday.

Approved by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, Embassy of Finland in Beijing set up new visa application centre in Beijing and Shanghai. The new centre in Beijing will be put into operation from May 25, 2015 and that in Shanghai is put into use from May 22, 2015.

According to statistics by VisitFinland.com, official website of Finland's Tourism Bureau, Chinese tourists who accommodated in Finland increased by 33 per cent year-on-year in the first two months in 2015. Gustafsson says that the establishment of the visa application centre is one of the methods to upgrade tourism service of Finland.

The new application centre will offer more services including translation, photocopy and mailing. Applicants cannot enjoy these services in the embassy before, according to Kirsi Puronpaa, First Secretary for Consular Affairs of Finnish Embassy to China. "There will be more place and staff members here than before. All staff members are trained by our embassy."

Puronpaa said that the center will open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. while the embassy is open from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. "The waiting hours at the center will be shorter than in the embassy," the consular said.

A tourism agency in Beijing is among the first applicants at the opening ceremony. "I think with the help of the centre, visa application will be more efficient. Applicants will not be bothered to submit application material many times," says Zhang Rui, Deputy General Manager of Outbound Tourism Company, Beijing UTour International Travel Service.

According to Finland's ambassador to China, Chinese tourists may have access to Union Pay in shops in Finland in the future.

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