China's central government on Sunday announced plans to resume pilot individual travel to Taiwan for residents of Shanghai and east China's Fujian Province, a move expected to boost employment and livelihoods in Taiwan.
The move is part of a package of 10 policies and measures released by the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, aimed at advancing the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and enhancing the well-being of people on both sides of the Strait.
The announcement came as a delegation from the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party, led by its chairwoman Cheng Li-wun, is wrapping up a mainland visit from Tuesday to Sunday.
The mainland will promote the resumption of individual tours for Shanghai and Fujian residents to Taiwan, the statement said.
The resumption marks the first restart of the program since individual travel by mainland residents to Taiwan was suspended in 2019 for 47 cities. The prospect of mainland tourists returning is widely seen as a boost to Taiwan's tourism sector.
Zhou Weihong, deputy general manager of Spring Tour, said the mainland is a major source of tourists and can provide strong support for Taiwan's various industries.
"The market scale was enormous. At our peak, we operated tours to the island of Taiwan daily, with itineraries ranging from six to eight days. To handle the volume, we worked with over ten local partner agencies and utilized dozens of hotels. On average, each traveler spent between 4,000 and 5,000 yuan (about 586 to 732 U.S. dollars).The revenue supported a vast local network," Zhou said.
Zhou added that transport infrastructure for a large-scale resumption of travel is already in place, with plans to expand routes.
“Currently, our Spring Airlines operates eight flights from Shanghai every week—five to Taipei and three to Kaohsiung. Furthermore, we plan to add new routes from Ningbo in July. Resumption of this market is expected to directly and substantially boost local employment and the economy in Taiwan," she said.
Chinese mainland to resume pilot individual travel to Taiwan for residents of Shanghai and Fujian
