SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China is considering expanding access to Taiwanese investors in mainland capital markets through an investment programme known as RQFII, a senior stock regulator was quoted as saying by the official China Securities Journal on Thursday.

The Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) scheme gives overseas investors the right to invest in mainland's markets via a quota system.

Enabling Taiwanese investors to participate via the RQFII programme forms part of the efforts by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to promote mutual investments in mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong financial markets, Jiang Yang, a CSRC deputy chairman, was quoted as saying.

Financial ties across the Taiwan Strait have gathered pace over recent years, with both sides signing a yuan clearing agreement and allowing banks to invest in each other's territories.

Currently, Taiwanese investors have limited access to mainland markets through schemes such as the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) programme.

China pledged last year that it would make it easier for firms in Taiwan to invest in the mainland's finiancial markets, including bonds.

Beijing is also promoting exchanges between the mainland and Hong Kong markets, noticeably through the launch of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Connect last November, which lets investors directly trade in the other city's stock market for the first time under a quota system.