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Weekend cross-Straits chartered flight takes off with mainland tourists
(Xinhua/Agencies)
Updated: 2008-07-04 09:20

Weekend cross-Straits chartered flight takes off with mainland tourists

The first group of mainland tourists of the day to arrive in Taiwan from Guangzhou, change currency at the Taoyuan International Airport July 4, 2008.  [Agencies]

Flight MF881 from Xiamen of southeastern China's Fujian Province, taking off at 7:16 am, has arrived at the Songshan Airport in Taipei.

A total of 760 mainland tourists across the mainland are on the unprecedented journey to Taiwan and will stay there for 10 days. They are all being given the red carpet treatment, with special receptions, dinners and entertainment programmes.

Their numbers are expected to rapidly increase to 3,000 tourists a day from July 18.

In Beijing, a ceremony was held in the morning for the launching of the cross-Strait weekend charter flights as well as the mainland tourists visiting Taiwan.

Wang Yi, director of both the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, said that Friday marked a new beginning in the history of cross-Straits exchanges.

Cross-Straits relations are facing a hard-won development opportunity, and direct contacts between the compatriots on both sides must be beefed up to enhance their mutual understanding and achieve new progress in the peaceful development of cross-Straits ties, he said.The flight from Guangzhou marks the beginning of regular non-stop direct flights between a number of cities.