BEIJING (Kyodo) -- China is arranging to restart its unilateral visa-free arrangement for short-term Japanese visitors, possibly later this month, several travel industry sources in Beijing said Friday.

China has yet to revive the pre-COVID practice of visa exemption for Japanese nationals, although it has given such preferential treatment to about 30 other countries, including South Korea.

The unilateral visa-free measure is believed to be aimed at promoting tourism and trade amid a downturn in the world's second-largest economy.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba agreed during their meeting in Peru last week to foster "mutually beneficial" and "stable" relations and boost people-to-people exchanges.

Between 2003 and 2020, China allowed Japanese nationals to visit the country without visas for up to 15 days. Japan requires all Chinese visitors to obtain visas regardless of the length of stay.

Before the pandemic, China also had unilateral arrangements for visa-free short-term visits by Singapore and Brunei citizens. In July last year, it revived the program for the two countries and expanded the preferential measure to other countries including Southeast Asian and European nations.

Beijing has so far not responded to repeated requests from Tokyo to resume the visa-free arrangement, calling for "equal" visa treatment for Chinese nationals, according to sources familiar with the bilateral relationship.