The two sides of the Taiwan Strait will exchange frequent visits in the coming months, according to a mainland spokesman Wednesday.

The mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), authorized to handle cross-Strait issues, will send six to seven delegations to Taiwan this year while its Taiwan counterpart, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), will send five to six delegations to the mainland, said Yang Yi, a spokesman for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, at a regular press conference.

The mainland delegations will aim to promote mainland investment in the island, religious exchanges, prevention and relief of natural disasters, cooperation between small and medium businesses as well as between the medical, agricultural and judicial sectors, he said.

Wang Fuqing, ARATS vice president, will lead a religious delegation to Taiwan from March 18 to 26, Yang said.

A delegation led by Chiang Pin-kung, SEF chairman, will visit Taiwan businesses in the mainland from March 24 to 30, he said.

The delegation will tour the three cities of Changsha, Hefei and Nanchang in central and eastern China.

In addition, Yang confirmed Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng will visit Taiwan in early April to promote the World Expo 2010, which is slated to open in Shanghai in May.

Also in April, Luo Qingquan, party chief of central China's Hubei Province will lead a delegation to Taiwan to promote business, technological and cultural cooperation.

Liang Baohua, chief of the Communist Party of China's Jiangsu Provincial Committee, was the first provincial-level party chief to visit Taiwan last year. Senior officials from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Henan province also led delegations to Taiwan.

At the previous press conference on Feb. 24, Fan Liqing, a spokeswoman for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, said the Chinese mainland planned to send more provincial heavyweights to visit Taiwan this year.