The Chinese mainland and Taiwan have agreed to raise the ceiling on tourists from the mainland to Taiwan to 4,000 per day, chinanews.com.cn reports.

During the 6th round of cross-Strait talks held Tuesday in Taiwan, the two parties decided to relax the current visitor limit of 3,000 a day, in order to allow more mainlanders to travel to Taiwan.

Vice President of China Travel Service (Taiwan) Ivan Lin stated the 3,000 tourist limit cannot meet demand in the high season, namely from March to May, making now the right time to raise the ceiling.

Hotels, sightseeing buses and tour guides are in adequate supply to receive more visitors from the Chinese mainland, said Yao Ta Kuang, chairman of the Taiwan Association of Travel Agents.

According to the Taiwan tourism bureau, the island welcomed 1.5 million people from the Chinese mainland in the first 11 months of this year, yielding $172 million in income.

After the limit rises to 4,000 tourists per day, the association predicts the annual tourism income will rise to $233 million.