China will lift a decades-old ban on mainlanders visiting political rival Taiwan yesterday, state media reported, a move that could further ease tension after visits to China by two of the island's opposition leaders.

China has had tight restrictions on its people visiting Taiwan since 1949 when the Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek fled to the island at the end of the Chinese civil war. A limited number of mainlanders have been able to travel there on business.

Ultimately, it is up to the Taiwan government under independence-leaning President Chen Shui-bian to decide if the floodgates are opened. Taiwan has its own tough rules restricting mainland visitors.

Beijing views the island as a breakaway province, which must eventually be unified with the mainland, by force if necessary.

Chinese tourists have proven a potent economic force. In the year or so since China relaxed rules on travel to Hong Kong, a tourism boom has boosted retail sales and been an important factor in the territory's economic recovery.

Tourism-related stocks surged in Taipei on Friday morning in anticipation of China relaxing its rules, with the tourism sub index up 6.79 percent by 0433 GMT.

China's National Tourism Bureau would allow mainlanders to join travel agency tours to Taiwan, including a seven-day package for less than 7,000 yuan ($845), the Beijing Morning Post said.