A ship left Tongyi dock at Xiamen in East China's Fujian Province for Jinmen in late morning.

This is the first time in 53 years that Taiwan businesses can transport their goods bought from the mainland to Taiwan directly, without stopping in Hong Kong or Macao.

Direct passenger transportation between the two cities started last year.

The central government has been asking Taiwanese authorities to lift their ban on direct shipping, mail and commercial links between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits. Until now, Taiwanese authorities only permitted direct links between its outlying island of Jinmen and Fujian Province.

Jinmen, located on the western side of the Straits, is only several kilometres from Xiamen, but it is more than 200 kilometres from Taiwan Island on the other side of the Straits.

(China Daily February 28, 2002)