TAIPEI - UP TO 700,000 Chinese tourists are expected to visit Taiwan in 2009 amid improving ties between the two sides, a report here quoted President Ma Ying-jeou as saying on Tuesday.

With mid-July marking the start of peak holiday season, Mr Ma told the Commercial Times that Taiwan is set to welcome 700,000 mainlanders - or 2,000 a day - by year-end, citing a tourism bureau estimate.

'I believe many people would be willing to invest (in tourism) if the number can stay to 2,000,' Mr Ma said.

Taiwanese authorities in April temporarily increased the quota on Chinese visitors to 5,000 a day in response to a sharp rise in demand for the May 1 Labour Day holidays, but the number has been dropping since then.

Mr Ma attributed the decline to June being the traditional low season, worsened by the spread of swine flu, which dissuaded some mainlanders from travelling to the island.

Some 360,000 Chinese have visited Taiwan since July 2008, after Mr Ma's Beijing-friendly government trebled the daily quota on Chinese visitors to 3,000.

Ties with China have improved dramatically since Mr Ma took office last year pledging to boost cross-Strait trade links and tourism.

But officially China still views the island as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary. The two sides have been governed separately since they split after a civil war in 1949. -- AFP