Consensus on visas should kick-start more Sino-US pragmatic cooperation

Ahead of Tuesday's virtual meeting between President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden, the United States and China reached a three-point consensus on their visa policies for journalists, which is a heartening development.

Complying with COVID-19 protocols, journalists of both countries will be permitted to freely depart and return to each other's countries.

And the US will issue one-year multiple-entry visas to journalists of Chinese nationality, and will immediately initiate the process to address "duration of status" issues. Based on the principle of reciprocity, the Chinese side has committed to granting equal treatment to US journalists immediately after US policies enter into force.