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Updated Thursday, June 2, 2011 11:08 pm TWN, The China Post news staff

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Individual China visitors to arrive in June

The China Post news staff--Mainland Chinese tourists will be allowed to visit Taiwan as individual travelers by the end of June, but initially only people from three Chinese cities, Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen, will be allowed to do so, according to informed sources.

Initially, the maximum daily number of individual Chinese travelers from the three cities has been set at 500, and each of them is required to prepare one guarantor in case they illegally overstay in Taiwan.

In addition, mainland Chinese will also be allowed to make individual trips to Taiwan's outlying islands, Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu, via the three mini-direct links across the Taiwan Strait. This will also be allowed by the end of June, the sources said.

Ranking officials within the Cabinet noted that the upcoming liberalization of regulations would be officially announced at a press conference to be held on June 8 after Taiwan's Straights Exchange Foundation (SEF) and China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) wind up a meeting in Taipei designed to review the progress of agreements signed by both sides.

The government here will set up a joint service center to serve individual mainland Chinese travelers. The center will be composed of representatives from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the Ministry of Interior, and the Mainland Affairs Council to effectively deal with any emergency event or incident associated with the individual Chinese travelers in Taiwan, according to the officials.

The officials continued that mainland Chinese travelers must meet certain financial conditions, such as having an annual salary above a certain level and owning real estate. If the inbound individual Chinese travelers are university students, they will be required to show proof of their student status.

Eager to Visit Taipei

In related news, a recent survey done by Ctrip.com, the largest travel website in mainland China, showed that residents of Shanghai have expressed the highest interest in making individual trips to Taiwan. They were also the most eager to visit Taipei and enjoy delicious Taiwanese cuisine.

Chen Yanyi, vice president of Ctrip.com, said that as Taiwan and mainland China share the same language, culture and cuisine, Taiwan's market for individual mainland Chinese travelers boasts great business potential and will be even larger than Hong Kong's.

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