By Eurasia Review

Spain received authorization on January 12 from the Chinese Government to open 12 new Visa Application Centres (VAC) in China, the Spanish government said.

The VACs are offices that receive applications for Schengen visas (short-term visas with a maximum validity of 90 days per half-year) for standard passport holders. The new offices will be opened in Chengdu, Jinan, Hangzou, Nanjing, Fuzhou, Changsha, Shenyang, Kunming, Chongqing, Xi’an, Shenzen and Wuhan.

By opening these new centers, the processing of short-term visas will be considerably expedited, which will significantly increase visits from Chinese citizens to Spain for tourism, business and investment purposes.

“This is all expected to have a very positive impact on bilateral economic flows between Spain and China,” according to the Spanish government.

The VACs are scheduled to begin operations during the month of February, once the raft of agreements on consular issues agreed at the latest EU-China Summit, on June 29, 2015, are completed.

“The implementation of the VACs is a major effort from Spain to strengthen our ties with China, a decisive commitment to increase the flow of entrepreneurs and tourists and a positive example of the excellent state of relations between the two countries,” the Spanish government said.