Lien made the remarks at a meeting with General Secretary Hu Jintao of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the second meeting between them since last April.

The beneficial policy package, announced at a cross-Straits economic and trade forum which ended Saturday, is comprised of three sets of policies directly stipulated by the State Council and 12 others formulated by relevant central government departments.

The State Council policies add four species in a list of Taiwan-grown fruits for Taiwan exporters, adopt a zero-tax on imports of 11 kinds of vegetables produced by Taiwan farmers and allow more imports of Taiwan's aquatic products, with zero-tax on some of the products, and allow Taiwan fishing boats to enjoy equal treatment as their mainland counterparts for selling their own products.

Under the other new policies, the Chinese mainland will recognize university diplomas issued in Taiwan.

The mainland will issue measures on mainland residents to visit Taiwan, approves Shenyang, Dalian and Chengdu cities to issue valid passes for Taiwan visitors to enter the mainland, in addition to the existing five cities of Haikou, Sanya, Xiamen, Fuzhou, and Shanghai.

Special clinics will be established for Taiwan visitors in some mainland cities, with doctors coming either from the mainland or from Taiwan.

The policies also allow Taiwan investors to set up joint-venture hospitals in the mainland with local partners, and they could hold as much as 70 percent of the stake.

Taiwan compatriots will be allowed to get license for medical practice in the mainland, after they pass official examinations. Enditem