TAIPEI - CHINA'S top negotiator on Taiwan will meet the island's president for the first time, a Taipei official said on Thursday, in what would be a further sign of improved relations between the diplomatic rivals.

The two sides will also sign deals on regular flights and direct cargo shipments, Mr P.K. Chiang, Taiwan's top negotiator on China policy, told Reuters.

Mr Chen Yunlin, head of China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, would meet President Ma Ying-jeou in Taiwan at the end of Oct or at the beginning of Nov, Mr Chiang said.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office was unavailable for comment.

China has claimed sovereignty over democratic, self-ruled Taiwan since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949 and has vowed to bring the island under its rule, by force if necessary.

But relations have improved since Mr Ma came to office in May with pledges to boost the local economy by forging new trade and transit links with Beijing.

Mr Ma's Nationalist Party (KMT) ruled all of China until Mao Zedong's Communists won the Chinese civil war and Chiang Kai-shek fled with the KMT to Taiwan.

Taiwan is recognised by just 23 countries around the world compared to about 170 that recognise China.

During Mr Chen's visit, which would be the highest level by a Chinese official to Taiwan, the two sides will sign deals allowing direct daily passenger flights, a launch of cargo flights and direct sea cargo routes, Mr Chiang said.

'I hope we can turn our weekend flights into daily flights,' Mr Chiang told Reuters in an interview. 'And we will for sure.'

At a landmark meeting in Beijing in June, China and Taiwan agreed to begin direct charter flights Friday through Monday and let as many as 3,000 Chinese tourists visit the island per day.

Before direct flights, previously banned for security reasons, travellers would make time-consuming plane changes in Hong Kong or Macau.

China and Taiwan are in talks to add six more Chinese cities to the five that handle Friday-through-Monday flights, and to shorten some of the flight paths.

Trade and transit links with fast-growing economic powerhouse China should help lift Taiwan out of a seven-year economic slump aggravated by the global financial crisis, he said.

'Taiwan is in last place among emerging Asian markets,' he said. 'These direct flights can add business opportunities.'

At a round of talks expected in mid-2009, negotiators will discuss investment guarantees, financial relations and double taxation, Mr Chiang said.

Talks over the next few years will focus on a 'comprehensive economic cooperation agreement' that would allow easier, cheaper two-way trade, he said.

'Political issues, such as a peace accord, are the hardest ones, but our key is economic issues, our return to prosperity,' Mr Chiang said. But eventually both sides should talk about democratisation, he added, noting a sensitive topic for Beijing.

In another sign of warming ties, China's negotiator will also attend a ceremony in Taipei for the arrival of two signature Chinese giant pandas, a gift from Beijing on hold since 2006 as the former Taiwan president didn't want them, Mr Chiang said.

The bears themselves may not arrive at the same time, he said. -- REUTERS