Beijing\/Washington
\nThe US and China have agreed to ease travel and visa restrictions on each others\u2019 journalists. The agreement comes after highly-anticipated talks between Chinese Premier Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden.
\nThe move will allow journalists to enter and depart from both countries more freely.
\nState media outlet China Daily said the agreement was the result of \u201cmore than a year of difficult negotiations\u201d.
\nUnder this, both governments will increase the validity of journalist visas from three months to one year, provided they are eligible under all applicable laws and regulations.
\nBoth countries have also pledged to allow journalists to freely depart and return, which they had previously been unable to do.
\nThe US state department spokesperson said they welcomed the moves as \u201cprogress\u201d but saw them simply as \u201cinitial steps\u201d.
\nThey added that they would \u201ccontinue to work toward expanding access and improving conditions for US and other foreign media\u201d.
\nIn February last year, the US decided to classify Chinese state media organisations as \u201cforeign missions\u201d, which allowed for tighter control to be exercised over them.
\nFive outlets including Xinhua news agency and the China Global Television Network were told they would need to seek approval to buy any property, and would be required to submit lists of all employees on staff, in a move China lambasted as \u201cpolitically motivated oppression\u201d.
\nA month later, China expelled 13 US journalists from major publications like the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.
\nIt is not clear if journalists who have been previously expelled will be allowed to return to China under the new agreement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Beijing\/Washington The US and China have agreed to ease travel and visa restrictions on each others\u2019 journalists. The agreement comes after highly-anticipated talks between Chinese Premier Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden. The move will allow journalists to enter and depart from both countries more freely. State media outlet China Daily said the agreement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-227966","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n