BEIJING, Jan. 6 -- Cross-Strait trips between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan rose to 8 million last year thanks to policies to increase tourism exchanges, said a mainland official here on Monday.

Shao Qiwei, head of the National Tourism Administration, said citizens in 13 more mainland cities were allowed to travel to Taiwan as individual tourists in 2013. Also, another 47 travel agencies were permitted to organize trips to Taiwan.

Citizens in 26 mainland cities can now visit Taiwan as individual tourists.

The list of cities will continue to increase this year, said Shao at a a national tourism conference.

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