Mainland authorities have begun preparations to resume group tours to Taiwan by residents of Shanghai and Fujian province in the near future, the culture and tourism ministry said on Friday.

The two sides have yet to resume such tours since the end of Covid-19, and have blamed each other for the lack of progress.

The culture and tourism ministry said in a short statement that the resumption of group tours from Shanghai, as well as from Fujian province, which sits on the other side of the Taiwan Strait from the island, would happen soon. However, it did not give a date for the resumption of travel.

This was being done in order to further promote the normalisation of people-to-people exchanges and "enhance the interests and well-being of compatriots on both sides of the strait," the ministry said. (Reuters)