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)