China has pledged to offer up to 600 billion yuan ($95 billion) in credit to Taiwanese companies on the mainland as it furthered its campaign for reunification.

Beijing will also increase access to mainland universities for Taiwanese teachers and students and allow direct cross-strait flights to three more mainland airports, Wang Yi, head of the cabinet-level Taiwan Affairs Office, said.

'To help Taiwanese enterprises develop, mainland banks will offer a 600 billion yuan credit ceiling over the next three to four years,' he said.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank and China Development Bank will be authorised to make the loans, he told the annual Straits Forum which aims to bolster ties between China and Taiwan, which Beijing considers a rebel province awaiting reunification.

The new moves aim to boost trade and tourism between both sides, he said. China will also extend the validity of mainland residential permits for Taiwanese from one year to two, he added.

Taiwanese professors will be given equal status to apply for work in mainland universities after receiving educational permits, he said, while Taiwanese students graduating from Chinese universities will be allowed to seek public sector jobs in China.

Bilateral trade has boomed over the past two decades, increasing by 10 per cent last year to $160 billion.

Ties improved markedly after Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou of the China-friendly Kuomintang party took power in 2008, on a platform of promoting trade and reconciliation.-TradeArabia News Service