Kinmen welcomes resumption of travel from Shanghai

Taipei, April 29 (CNA) Kinmen County Deputy Magistrate Lee Wen-liang (李文良) on Wednesday welcomed news that Shanghai authorities will allow residents to travel to Kinmen and Matsu.

Lee told CNA that the county government will make the necessary preparations, coordinating with its Tourism Department and local travel agencies, as soon as the central government approves.

He said Kinmen offers a range of attractions, including southern Fujian-style architecture, military heritage, overseas Chinese culture and ecological sites, which can be packaged into themed travel itineraries.

Lee added that he hopes the policy will later expand to include travelers from nearby provinces such as Jiangsu and Guangdong, which could further benefit the tourism sector.

"We welcome travelers from across China," he said.

The Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism announced earlier in the day that Shanghai residents will be able to sign up for group or individual trips to Kinmen and Matsu from Wednesday, through qualified travel agencies in Shanghai and Fujian, in accordance with related regulations.

China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism had previously said in February that it planned to reopen travel to the offshore islands, shortly after Taiwan's main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) attended a Beijing forum hosted by the Chinese Communist Party.

Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council responded at the time that normalized cross-strait tourism must be free of political preconditions, adding that it would wait for concrete measures from the Chinese side before assessing its response.