Visa-free deal reached with Ecuador

China and Ecuador reached agreement on a visa exemption, as the energy-reliant Latin American country, facing a deep plunge in the price of oil, works to attract Chinese tourists and investors.

Under the agreement, Chinese passport-holders will be able to visit the Andean country, with its abundant tourist attractions, without applying for a visa in advance, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said at a meeting with Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing on Thursday.

Correa, in Beijing for the first ministerial meeting of the Forum of China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, said he expects "hundreds of thousands of Chinese tourists will come to Ecuador after the procedures are simplified" and hopes a direct flight from Quito, Ecuador's capital, to Beijing will be open soon.