The United States and China have agreed to relax visa restrictions on each other's journalists, according to officials from both countries. The deal addresses one source of contention in strained bilateral ties following a lengthy virtual meeting between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping on Monday.

Under the agreement, the two governments will increase the validity of journalist visas to one year from the current three months. The authorities will also make such visas eligible for multiple entries, allowing reporters to travel internationally. https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/16/media/journalist-visas-us-china-agreement-intl-hnk/index.html

The People's Republic of China has committed to allowing American journalists who are already in the country to "freely depart and return, which they had previously been unable to do," a US State Department official said Tuesday. "We plan to facilitate similar treatment." Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said China would lift its visa restrictions once the United States had done so.

The US state department spokesperson said they welcomed the moves as "progress" but saw them simply as "initial steps". In February last year, the US decided to classify Chinese state media organisations as "foreign missions", which allowed for tighter control to be exercised over them. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-59315372.

China has for years sought to impose restrictions on American journalists who aggressively covered the government’s activities. Chinese officials shortened the length of visas for journalists working for U.S. news organizations in an effort to dissuade the reporters from writing critically about the country for fear of being forced out. But tensions over the issue of journalists intensified in early 2020, as President Donald Trump escalated his rhetoric about the Chinese origin of the coronavirus and limited the number of Chinese citizens who were allowed to work in the United States for Chinese state-owned media organizations that are widely believed to be propaganda outlets.

Biden has also taken a hard line with China, but has sought to dial back the rhetoric between officials. U.S. officials said the virtual summit between the two leaders Monday was designed in part to ensure that misunderstandings and heated rhetoric do not lead to outright conflict with China.

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