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Words in the News
Easier UK visas for Chinese proposed
14 October 2013
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Britain's finance minister, Chancellor George Osborne, has announced that the UK will
relax its visa restrictions for Chinese nationals. He made the announcement at the start
of his week-long visit to China, which is being seen as an opportunity to improve
business for British companies and increase Chinese investment in the UK.
Martin Patience reports for the BBC:
In a speech at China's top university the chancellor said there should be no limits on
the number of Chinese students and tourists able to visit Britain if they want to. He also
stressed that there was no country in the west more open to Chinese investment than
the UK.
The chancellor shared the stage at Peking University with London's mayor - Boris
Johnson. Their high-profile visits are a sign of a diplomatic thaw between the two
countries. Beijing was furious after the prime minister met the exiled Tibetan spiritual
leader - the Dalai Lama - last year.
The chancellor's announcement to relax visa rules for Chinese nationals will be
welcomed by British businesses. They've been calling on the government to ease
restrictions as a way of encouraging more high-spending Chinese tourists to visit the
UK.
Words in the News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2013
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bbclearningenglish.com
Vocabulary and definitions
chancellor high-ranking person in the government. The British
Chancellor is responsible for economic and financial
matters
no limits no restrictions
stressed (here) made its importance clear
high-profile attracting a lot of attention in the media
a diplomatic thaw improving relations between two countries
furious very angry
exiled sent away from his own country
to relax (here) to make less strict
high-spending using a lot of money to buy things
Read and listen to the story and the vocabulary online:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2013/10/131014_witn_china_visa.shtml
Related story:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24512781
Words in the News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2013
Page 2 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com