A procurement group from mainland's southwestern Sichuan Province notched up deals worth 8.1 billion yuan as of Wednesday (1.19 billion U.S. dollars) during a visit to Taiwan.

According to Xie Kaihua, head of Sichuan's commerce department, their purchases covered electronic devices, machinery, medicine, chemicals and farm products.

The group, consisting of 53 companies, is part of a delegation headed by Liu Qibao, Party chief of Sichuan Province. The trip is scheduled from May 23 to 28 at the invitation of the Kuomintang.

Also on Wednesday, the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office announced that Lu Zushan, governor of the eastern Zhejiang Province, will lead a procurement delegation to Taiwan from June 9 to 16.

The Zhejiang delegation will launch cooperation programs with Taiwan counterparts in finance, agriculture, tourism, culture and education, according to the office.

Also on Wednesday, Yang Chongyong, vice governor of northern Hebei Province, met with KMT honorary chairman Wu Poh-hsiung during a six-day visit to the island.

Yang expressed the hope that the province would attract more investment from the island through exchanges and cooperation.

Yang and his delegation arrived in the island Monday for a "Hebei-Taiwan" week aimed to promote economic cooperation between the two regions.

Wu said more communication would lead to "less disputes and stronger emotional ties," stressing that peaceful development of cross-Strait relations was the right path and would benefit people from both sides.