A deposit of 4,000 US dollars is all a citizen of north China's Tianjin Municipality needs to apply for a passport to go abroad either for sightseeing or study, according to a new regulations issued on January 20 by the local public security bureau.

Those who wants to study abroad and are self-financed will just need to show their acceptance notices from the foreign university when they apply for a passport. Ten additional amendments also simplify the procedures for working and doing business in foreign countries.

Zhang Liang, in charge of exit and entrance affairs for Tianjin, said that local citizens can now ask to visit their friends or relatives living abroad by just showing a letter of invitation and copies of the ID cards of those extending the invitation.

Many college students in China have shown a strong wish to continue their education in foreign countries, and many more Chinese are now visiting foreign countries during holidays, while many parents and spouses want to see their family members in other countries.

In the past, it took a long time for applicants to get a passport as they were asked to provide dozens of documents to government departments.

The number of Tianjiners going abroad for personal affairs has been increasing by 40 percent annually in recent years, and over 32,000 of them went abroad last year, as compared with 24,000 in 1998.