Taiwan-based China Times reported five to six purchasing delegations from the mainland will visit and buy in Taiwan starting this April. Wang Chih-Kang, head of Taiwan's "External Trade Development Council," as cited by the newspaper, said the money spent by this year's delegations "will surely exceed last year's amount and might even surpass $15 billion."

In the meantime, the number of mainland tourists to Taiwan has been on the rise. During the 2010 Spring Festival holiday (February 13-19), 35,000 mainland travelers visited Taiwan. In 2009, mainland travelers created $1.3 billion in direct revenues for the tourism industry in Taiwan.

Wang said mainland businesspeople have all made up purchasing lists prior to their trip. For instance, Wang said nine color TV set manufacturers from the mainland will come to buy $5.3 billion worth of panel products for TV sets from Taiwan companies, including Taiwan Chi Mei Corp. and Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd.

The Chinese mainland and Taiwan are in the process of negotiating the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, which is believed to strengthen economic ties across the Straits.