The Chinese mainland and Taiwan are benefiting from improved exchanges and cooperation in the tourism industry, said Liu Kezhi, secretary general of the mainland's Association for Cross-strait Exchanges on Tourism, on Friday.

Liu said at an exhibition on cross-strait tourism in Taipei that the mainland received 40.1 million visitors from Taiwan from 1987, when the two sides began personnel exchanges, to 2005.

The number of visitors from Taiwan had risen by average 14 percent annually.

In the same period, 1.3 million mainlanders had visited Taiwan, rising by 19 percent annually.

In the first seven months of this year, 2.52 million Taiwan tourists visited the mainland, an increase of four percent compared with the same period of last year, and 110,000 mainlanders toured the island province, up by 18 percent.

The Cross-Strait Tourism Exhibition opened in Taipei on Friday, with the presence of tourism agencies from all Chinese provinces.

A record 462 mainland representatives are attending the three-day event, according to organizers.

Attractions such as the Three Gorges on the Yangtze River, the ancient Silk Road, and the Qinghai-Tibet railway are highlighted at the exhibition.

Source: Xinhua