CRI听力：Nine East European Countries to Join Schengen Agreement

Nine countries, most from eastern Europe, will join the Schengen Agreement in January. That means Chinese citizens will need only one visa to visit most parts of the European Union.

The Czech Republic's embassy in China held an informational reception in Beijing to try attracting more Chinese tourists to the country.

Vitezslav Grepl, the country's ambassador to China, says travelling in Europe will soon become more convenient for Chinese.

"Beginning of the next year, there will be one single Schengen Visa which Chinese will have to use to visit any country of European Union of the Schengen Area."

The Schengen Agreement guarantees citizens of the nine countries free movement within the EU without border controls.

The EU is expected to pass the document about the Schengen Area enlargement at its conference of foreign ministers this month.

For now, Chinese visitors still have to transfer to different airlines to visit Eastern Europe. But people can expect to see direct flights after the nine EU countries join the agreement.