BEIJING, Jan. 6-- Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said on Monday the Malaysian government is mulling visa free policy for the Chinese visitors.

Malaysia needs to provide free visa service for Chinese tourists and businessmen like other countries do, Liow said.

Owing to visa-free access, the number of Chinese visitors to Thailand in 2013 grew from 22.4 to 26.5 million, an increase of 18.8 percent.

By contrast, the number of tourists to Malaysia only increased by 2.7 percent, industry reports said.