China and Taiwan reopen talks

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Chinese and Taiwanese officials agreed Thursday to set up permanent offices in each other's territories, in the first formal talks between the two sides in almost a decade.

The decision, reported by each territories' official news agencies, came during a meeting between the Straits Exchange Foundation and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits. Both bodies are semi-official organizations that negotiate on behalf of their respective governments.

The two sides are also expected to discuss the possibility of establishing chartered flights across the 100-mile Taiwan Strait on the weekends and approval for Chinese residents to travel to Taiwan.

Cross-straits talks between the two delegations began in 1993, a year after China and Taiwan informally agreed to the "1992 consensus." The consensus said the two sides belonged to "one China," although it did not describe what that meant, and both sides were free to use differing interpretations.

After that, the dialogue was delayed for five years over cross-strait tensions.

A second meeting in 1998 was held in Shanghai, but a 1999 meeting was canceled by Beijing when then-Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui proposed that Taiwan and China treat each other as two separate states. Watch a report on warming relations between Beijing and Taipei »

Taiwan's new president, Ma Ying-jeou, has rejected the push for independence.

Although Ma also opposes unification with China, he campaigned on promises of seeking closer ties to mainland China, particularly seeking for Taiwan some of the benefits of China's robust economy.

Taiwan separated from China during civil war in 1949, but Beijing has always considered it a part of China and has threatened to go to war should Taiwan declare formal independence.

All About China • Taiwan • Ma Ying-jeou