On April 8, Consul General Li Qiangmin accepted a collective interview with the local media in the Consulate General's office building, introducing in depth the mobile payment and other convenient measures implemented recently by our Consulate General, accompanied by Deputy Consul General Wang Yu. More than ten media agencies including Xinhua News Agency, China News Agency, China Daily, and the local media such as the SinovisionNet, the China Press, World Journal,聽 Chinese Times USA and Texas Chinese Radio, were present to report.

Consul General Li said that Alipay and WeChat payment had been a very convenient way of payment in China, and is also highly praised by foreign friends. The introducing of mobile payment in the Consulate General provides a new choice for overseas Chinese to pay the passport fees, especially for those who have urgent needs to make payment while not being able to pay through bank cards or cheque. Applicants do not need to pay extra fees for mobile payment.

Consul General Li told the media that the Consulate General in Houston attached great importance to the experience of overseas Chinese when applying for the travel documents, and continuously upgraded the service for the people. First, to make it more convenient for the applicants to renew their passports, including expanding the scope of passport renewal. Short-term visitors to the United States could now renew their passports normally. Minors only needed one parent to accompany, etc. Second, to ensure the applicants appear only once for the application and "one-time complete notification" policy was implemented for those who need to supplement material. Third, to make the measures such as on-site passport service and mail-back service for the people residing in other cities, which saved a lot of time and financial costs for overseas Chinese living in other States. Fourth, to constantly improve the software and hardware service environment in the Visa Hall by equipping with self-service passport photo booth, copier and water dispenser inside the Visa Hall. All these have been highly praised by the applicants.

Consul General Li told the media that in recent years, the Consulate General has been receiving numerous letters from overseas Chinese to praise the consular service, which is truly an encouragement to our work. At the same time, the Consulate-General upholds the concept of "Diplomacy for the People" and constantly improves the level of the consular service, and the improving work will always be on the road. We will listen to the opinions and suggestions from the applicants and constantly improve the quality of our work.

Consul General Li also answered questions raised by the media about the fraud of telecommunications by impersonating the Embassy or Consulate General. Li said that in recent years the problem has been serious, and many overseas Chinese have been deceived and suffered huge losses. Our office attaches great importance to this. We have communicated with the relevant authorities of the United States many times. At the same time, we have published news on our official website and Facebook account, reminding the overseas Chinese to prevent the cheating through various channels. We will further urge the U.S. law enforcement agencies to take effective measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of overseas Chinese in the United States.

Before the interview with Consul General Li, the media staff were invited to take photos and videos of the applicants experiencing the new way of payment through WeChat and Alipay inside the Visa Hall. The staff from the Passport and Visa Office demonstrated how to make payment with the mobile device, and many applicants were very interested and tried experiencing the bar code scanning payment method, and successfully picked up their passports or other travel documents.