Cooperation between police on the Chinese mainland and Taiwan has reduced crime on both sides, a mainland spokesman said on Wednesday.

The mainland and Taiwan signed the Agreement on Cross-Straits Mutual Assistance in Cracking Down on Crime in April 2009 in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. Since then, police on either side of the Taiwan Straits have set up multilevel contact.

Crime has declined by 50 percent in Taiwan and in several provinces on the mainland, said Yang Yi, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, China's cabinet.

Chinese mainland police have repatriated more than 260 suspects wanted by Taiwan since the mutual assistance agreement in 2009, he added.

Mainland police have also transferred six seriously ill prisoners to Taiwan over the past four years. Taiwan police repatriated four fugitives to the mainland, Yang said.

Police across the Straits have cooperated in cracking a number of major telecom fraud gangs, seizing more than 4,100 suspects, he added.

They jointly uncovered a number of serious drug-trafficking cases, confiscating more than 1,720 kg of illegal drugs.

Both sides have investigated a series of financial crimes and cases concerning human-trafficking and illegal border-crossings under the agreement.

In June 2012, police from both sides caught 208 suspects implicated in a single bankcard fraud case involving 1 billion yuan ($160 million).

Yang said the mainland has authorized another two cities to issue entry permits to Taiwan residents, in a bid to make the mainland more accessible.

Yancheng in Jiangsu province and Wenzhou in Zhejiang province will be able to issue entry permits to Taiwan residents starting Feb 5.

That will bring the cities allowed to issue the certificates to 32. The certificates allow Taiwan residents to stay on the mainland for up to five years.

Yang said the government has been simplifying procedures for people from Taiwan to travel, work and live on the mainland and will fast-track promoting a digitalized version of entry passes for Taiwan residents.

He said he hopes Taiwan will beef up measures to ensure the safety of mainland tourists during the approaching Chinese Lunar New Year holidays.

Relations between the mainland and Taiwan continued their positive progress in 2012. Cross-Straits ties have been improving since 2008, when the Kuomintang won ruling power.

About 5.34 million people traveled from Taiwan to the mainland in 2012, up 1.47 percent, while 2.63 million people traveled from the mainland to Taiwan, up 42.6 percent, according to the Taiwan Affairs Office.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

(China Daily 01/31/2013 page5)