(Yicai) Dec. 26 -- More Chinese passport holders are expected to visit Japan after the Japanese foreign minister said his country would ease its visa requirements for Chinese nationals, according to experts.

The top diplomats of China and Japan reached 10 key agreements in Beijing yesterday, including enhanced tourism cooperation and new measures to promote bilateral travel.

Among the measures, Japan will double the maximum length of multiple-entry visas for individual Chinese citizens to 10 years from five years, while the maximum stay for Chinese tourist groups will double to 30 days from 15 days.

Visa experts at Ctrip, China’s largest online travel agency, said the policy easing is expected to further spur Chinese tourists to visit Japan. The 10-year visa will particularly benefit high-income travelers, encouraging them to spend while on visits to Japan, they said.

Hotel searches for Japanese destinations increased two-fold in the past week compared with the prior seven days, according to online travel platforms.

Flight searches on Qunar for Tokyo and Osaka rose 20 percent week on week as of yesterday, with the two cities ranking second and third for outbound destinations. Lesser-known places such as Hakodate, Otaru, and Izu saw hotel searches more than triple from the previous week.

Based on Qunar's hotel booking data, Japan heads the list of all outbound destinations for Chinese tourists for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, with interest mainly focused on the cities of Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya. Airfares remain competitive, with Beijing-Osaka flights in late February priced at CNY600 (USD82), down from around CNY2,000 (USD192) in January.

Ctrip ranks Japan as the No. 1 outbound destination for Chinese tourists this year. Despite flight capacity between the two countries returning to just 75 percent of the level in 2019, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Japan has already surpassed pre-pandemic figures.

Japan particularly appeals to younger Chinese. According to Ctrip, those born after 1980 account for 41 percent of bookings. Travelers from major cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Hangzhou show the keenest interest in Japanese destinations.

Editor: Emmi Laine