The Chinese mainland is ready to expand tourism cooperation with Taiwan, said Sun Gang, deputy director of the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) in Beijing on Monday.

Sun said at the opening ceremony of a tourism amity meeting across the straits that the tourism operators across the Taiwan Straits had the responsibility to contribute to China's reunification.

Since currently the Chinese mainland still cannot organize tourist groups to Taiwan, Sun expressed his hope that Taiwan tourism operators could introduce more Taiwanese to visit the mainland.

Tourism operators across the Straits should consult on providing more popular tourism lines and products with Taiwanese, so as to expand the tourism scope and promote tourism exchanges and cooperation across the straits, Sun said.

Sun noted that the cross-Straits cooperation in tourism had recorded a constant development in recent years, and to realize uninhibited tourism as soon as possible was the common desire across the straits.

According to the statistics released by the CNTA, the number of Taiwanese visiting the mainland had risen from 437,700 in 1988 to 2.73 million in 2003, and the total number of Taiwanese going to the mainland in last 15 years was over 27.4 million.

The mainland had become an ideal tourism option and a potential tourism market for Taiwanese, said Sun.

More than 560 tourism operators from the Chinese mainland and delegates from over 300 Taiwan travel services are attending the two-day meeting.

The meeting has been held annually since 1998, with a purpose of increase mutual understanding and promoting cooperation in tourism sectors across the straits.

(Xinhua News Agency February 10, 2004)