Direct cargo shipping between the Chinese mainland and the
Taiwan-controlled island of Jinmen began Wednesday.
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
kilometers from Xiamen, but it is more than 200 kilometers from
Taiwan Island on the other side of the Straits.
The ship, rented from Xiamen General Shipping Company by Xiamen
International Trade Company, was loaded with 1,900 tons of stones
and sand.
The trade company has worked hard since July on a direct cargo
transportation between Xiamen and Jinmen to reduce trade costs.
"It's an encouraging start and direct transportation can
substantially lessen costs,'' said He Yunlong, president of the
trade company.
Chen Yingpan, president of Taiwan's Jinma Shipping Company, said he
is in Xiamen conducting research about cost about direct shipping
because his company is considering playing a bigger role in this
endeavor.
Statistics show that since direct passenger transport between the
city and Jinmen opened in January last year, 22,000 Taiwanese have
travelled to the mainland by sea.
More than one-third of the Jinmen population has visited the
mainland.
(China
Daily February 28, 2002)