Taiwan wants a deal with China to further ease restrictions on visits by tourists from the mainland in the second half of this year, a government official said recently

The news comes a day after the two sides announced an expansion of direct charter flights, which was seen as further paving the way for eventual direct links between Taiwan and China.

The measure would permit Chinese nationals to travel directly to Taiwan onboard the charter flights that will operate during major holidays, said the official, who declined to be identified.

“We hope that the charter flights can be coordinated with the tourists, this would be more reasonable and mutually beneficial,” said the official.

Until the late 1980s, there were restrictions on private visits by Chinese nationals to Taiwan and vice versa due to security concerns after the two sides split at the end of a civil war in 1949.

But since being eased, the number of Taiwan people visiting China soared, with 4.1 million visits recorded in 2005, up 11.5 percent from the previous year, according to Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council.

By comparison, mainland Chinese made only 172,982 visits to Taiwan during the same time, according to council data.

Under current regulations, mainland Chinese may only enter Taiwan as part of organised tourist groups after transiting elsewhere.