Chinese travel agents to visit Taiwan

BEIJING, June 15 (UPI) -- In one of the first fruits of an agreement to open Taiwan's doors to mainland Chinese tourists, 33 Chinese travel agents will visit the island, officials said.

The China National Tourism Administration said the group will inspect Taiwan's tourism facilities during a 10-day period, focusing on the island's hotels, transportation infrastructure, shopping centers and major tourists sites, Xinhua, the state-run Chinese news agency, reported Sunday.

The move comes only days after the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and the Straits Exchange Foundation of Taipei signed an agreement allowing the tourist movement between the two Chinas, which some observers have hailed a major sign of a thaw in their often tense relationship.

Xinhua said the agreement takes effect June 20, with the first arrival of mainland tourists to Taiwan on July 4.