China could soon lift an entry permit requirement for Taiwan residents. That was the word on Sunday from top Chinese political advisor Yu Zhengsheng.
China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency quoted Yu, who is the chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. According to the report, Yu announced the plan during a speech at the seventh Straits Forum, which is currently under way in the southern Chinese city of Xiamen.
Right now, Taiwanese residents need a special identity booklet known as a “taibaozheng” in order to travel to China. They also need an entry permit, which can take two days to process. Yu said Sunday that there are plans to lift the entry permit requirement, and to redesign the booklet as a card.
The Xinhua report said that in 1988, the year after martial law was lifted in Taiwan, some 450,000 Taiwanese visited China. In 2014, that number topped 5.37 million visits.