South Korea in July will open its new flagship visa application center in the coastal city of Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, to provide better and more comfortable service for the increasing number of Chinese residents travelling to South Korea.

In the first two months of this year, the number of people obtaining South Korean visas in China grew by nearly 50 percent compared to the same time in 2014. Last year, over 3.31 million visas were issued to Chinese residents, a 50 percent hike from 2013, according to statistics issued by South Korea's embassy in China. With more Chinese opting to travel abroad, South Korea is keen to continue to grow as a tourism destination of choice.