Direct air-sea mainland to Taiwan service points now total 108

A TOTAL of 108 cross-strait direct shipping destinations for air and sea transport are now in service between the mainland and Taiwan, said Sun Yafu, vice-chairman of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the China State Council.

There are 37 airports and 71 sea ports authorised to handle cross-strait direct shipping, providing 370 scheduled passenger flights every week and 20 chartered flights every month, reports Xinhua. The mainland and Taiwan plan to add another 10 more seaports to the list.

From January to July, the mainland and Taiwan posted a trade value of US$81.9 billion, up 55.9 per cent year on year, said Mr Sun. In the same period, Beijing approved 1,607 Taiwan investment projects on the mainland, amounting $1.4 billion, up 41.7 per cent year on year. Since July 2009, there have been more than 50 enterprises from the mainland that have made investments in Taiwan, amounting to $133 million.

Mr Sun expects the economic cooperation of the two sides to go broader and deeper. He said the economic and cultural ties between the mainland and Taiwan now have grown to their strongest point in 60 years.
(Source:www.schednet.com)