Singapore will continue its promotion plan in China to woo more tourists despite the recent reports of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) cases in China, said the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) on Monday.

The STB said that it will, along with its regional office in China, monitor closely the cases in China.

The STB said that it will also work closely with the respectivegovernment agencies to take the necessary measures at the appropriate time.

As part of its advertising drive, the STB is providing Chinese tourists with special travel offers and simplifying their visa application procedures.

Chinese tourists can as of Wednesday be granted a social visa to enter Singapore within a day, and the total number of Chinese tourist agencies applying for such a visa for the Chinese touristswill rise from 43 to 66, said the STB.

Currently, China is Singapore's second largest source of foreign tourists with over half a million Chinese tourists visitedthe island state last year.

Singapore, which has a population of around 4 million, receivessome 8 million foreign tourists per year, earning the city state about 5.6 billion US dollars.

Source: Xinhua