Mainland travel made easy

Taiwan resident Xu Huayang hasn't stopped smiling since learning that he soon will not need an entry permit for the Chinese mainland.

The State Council, China's cabinet, announced in a notification on June 18 that entry-permit requirements for Taiwan residents visiting the mainland would be removed from July 1. The revised rule will enable Taiwan residents to enter and exit the mainland by producing a travel pass without having to apply for a visa-like document on every visit.

Xu, a Peking University master's student, has lived in Beijing for the past four years. Like other Taiwan residents, he needs an entry permit to come into the mainland, a rule that's been around since 1992. For Taiwan residents on the mainland, such permits are renewed with a frequency ranging from three months to five years, depending on the nature of a person's stay.