China's tourism authority says South Korea and Australia are to extend visa validity for Chinese visitors up to a maximum of 10 years.

South Korea is a favourite destination for Chinese travellers, and last year received over six million tourists from China, spending 144 billion yuan, or 22 billion US dollars altogether.

South Korea has been promoting the easing of visa application procedures for Chinese tourists. It's expecting to draw 80 million Chinese to the country.

Australia also plans to issue Chinese tourist visas with a 10-year validity. It is expected that China will take over from New Zealand as the country's largest source of tourists in the next four years.

Tourism expert Zhang Chuanbo said apart from these two countries, many others have already started granting Chinese visas for extended periods.

"Many countries have eased their visa policies for Chinese visitors by extending the visa validity period from five years to 10 years. South Korea, Australia, the United States and Singapore have all extended the visa validity period to 10 years."

South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism carried out inspections earlier this month at travel agencies with Chinese visitors as their sole customers.

Unqualified agencies will be fined, required to rectify their behaviors, or removed from the tourism market.