On October 9, 2007, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Kong Quan and Britain's Ambassador to China Sir William Ehrman, on behalf of the Chinese and British governments respectively, signed the Implementation Rules on the Memorandum of Understanding on the Facilitation of Legitimate Travel and Co-operation to Combat Illegal Immigration in Beijing. Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security of China and from the Home Office and the Foreign Office of Britain attended the signing ceremony.
With the deepening of China-Britain all-round strategic partnership, personnel exchanges between the two countries have increased considerably in recent years. According to the Implementation Rules, China and Britain will grant each other visa free treatment to the holders of diplomatic and service passport as well as multiple visa treatment to service and business visits and overseas students of the two countries, work together to fight against international stowaway crimes and accelerate the settlement of illegal immigration. Such efforts will promote the people-to-people exchanges and advance the cooperation in various fields between the two countries.
