Serialized TV plays of a high standard and co-produced by people from China's mainland and Taiwan may now broadcast 35 instead of 20 episodes during prime time on mainland TV channels, a government official said in Shanghai Sunday.

Ma Xuming, a senior official at the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, made the announcement at a seminar on across-the-Straits exchanges and cooperation in film and television, held during the Shanghai International Film Festival.

Ma said that the Mainland and Taiwan should strengthen their exchanges in management, training, production and the application of new technology in film and television. "The two sides could work together on more cinema to graphic and television productions which introduce Chinese cultural traditions to the world," said the official.

There has been growing momentum the last two years in across-the-Straits exchanges and cooperation in TV plays. The mainland approved the entry of nearly 300 Taiwanese to work on film and TV plays in 2001. The number in the first five months of this year has exceeded 100.

(Xinhua News Agency June 9, 2002)