The government of Nepal is planning to ease visa regime for Nepal-bound Chinese tourists, officials said Thursday.

The Ministry of Tourism has submitted a report to this effect to various ministries for approval, officials of the ministry said.

The report was prepared by a team chaired by Joint Secretary Mohan Krishna Sapkota at the Ministry of Tourism.

It mainly proposes to establishing diplomatic offices in various parts of China to facilitate prospective tourists and set up visa facilitation service centres in big cities in China.

The report also floats a cost-free visa regime for Chinese tourists but that has been marked as an optional category.

In November 2001, China included Nepal in the list of Approved Destination Status countries for outbound Chinese tourists.

In 2011, a total of 75,517 Chinese tourists visited Nepal, a multifold increase as compared to 8,000 arrivals of the Chinese nationals in 2001.