TAIPEI - TAIWAN said on Wednesday it intends to allow foreign ships to travel across the Taiwan strait and stop at Chinese and Taiwanese ports, in a sign of further opening of trade ties between the two political rivals.

'There used to be a direct shipping ban on foreign shipping firms. That will be removed eventually,' Fu Dong-cheng, vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan's main China policy maker, told reporters.

BEIJING - A FEW hundred taxi drivers went on strike on Wednesday in a southwestern Chinese district to protest a proposed increase in the number of cabs operating there, state media reported.

It was the latest round of protests by taxi drivers in several parts of China upset at fuel costs and unlicensed competition.

BEIJING - CHINA is expected to reform its oil pricing mechanism within 20 days as part of efforts to reduce consumption and air pollution, state media reported on Wednesday.