The government also granted 1.3 million pounds (2 million dollars) to VisitBritain for a two-month campaign in China, starting on Oct. 26, to invite Chinese visitors to share images of their own experiences on social media to inspire fellow travelers to visit Britain.
Despite the rapid growth of Chinese tourists and Britain's various efforts to woo them, alarming signs have emerged due to the still complicated visa application process.
The number of visits from China declined 7 percent from 200,340 in 2013 to 185,062 in 2014, said the aforementioned VisitBritain report.
"Visa issues really erode British strength in terms of attracting more foreign businesses, attracting talented people," Chinese Ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming once said, voicing his wish that more progress would be made on the matter.
British officials and industry players have also warned that Britain could miss out on billions of pounds from Chinese tourists if it would not improve its visa application system.
Wang Xiufu, the travel agency manager, urged the British government to further loosen the visa regime and reduce application fees for Chinese visitors.
XI'S VISIT TO BRING MORE CHINESE TOURISTS
Xi's visit from Monday to Friday has ushered in a "golden time" in China-Britain ties to the expectations of both sides, and the two countries issued on Thursday a joint declaration on building a "global comprehensive strategic partnership for the 21st Century".
Fortified relations are set to further prompt people-to-people exchanges, which will significantly promote tourism in both countries.
On Wednesday, British Prime Minister David Cameron's office announced that from 2016 the validity of new visitor visas for Chinese tourists will be extended from six months to two years, which will bring "significant benefits to the UK economy."
This year is a "golden year" for the development of the Britain-China relationship and Xi's visit will usher bilateral relationship into a "golden era" Cameron said last month when he met Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong on the sidelines of the third meeting of the China-Britain mechanism for high-level cultural exchanges.
At the meeting, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on holding annual talks between their tourist authorities to bolster strategic cooperation on tourism.
Britain is "enthusiastic" about developing its ties with China even further and making sure that next decade is a golden one, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair told Xinhua days ago, expecting "President Xi's visit will strengthen the relationships still further between Britain and China at the political level, at the economic level and at the people-to-people level."
On Thursday, Xi hailed that the essence of Chinese and British cultures has brought a fantastic "chemical reaction" into their own people's way of thinking and lifestyle through people-to-people exchanges.
"The state visit of the President of China Xi Jinping this week, and the accompanying international media exposure and visibility, is a fantastic opportunity for us to inspire more international visitors from China to come and explore all the nations and regions of Britain," Balcombe told Xinhua ahead of the visit.
