Financial cooperation between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan will go through similar development and practice in the future as that between Hong Kong and the mainland, the country's central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said Friday.

"The cross-Straits financial cooperation has already been deepened," Zhou told a press conference on the sideline of the parliament's annual session.

Zhou, governor the People's Bank of China, said that the financial industry has kept with the pace of cross-strait tourism and personnel exchange development.

He admitted that there is still room left for further improvement in cross-Straits financial cooperation.

Premier Wen Jiabao said Thursday in the government report that "we will continue to comprehensively strengthen cross-Straits economic cooperation to jointly respond to the global financial crisis.

Wen also vowed to actively promote financial cooperation across the Straits.

(Xinhua News Agency March 6, 2009)