BEIJING - Ten more Chinese mainland cities have been approved to grant individual tourist visits to Taiwan, according to a deal reached between the two sides Sunday.

The Chinese mainland's Association for Tourism Exchange Across the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan's Taiwan Strait Tourism Association reached the deal on Sunday to allow residents from Tianjin, Chongqing, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Jinan, Xi'an, Fuzhou and Shenzhen to visit Taiwan as individual tourists.

Taiwan first opened the door to individual tourists from mainland cities on June 28 last year. Since then, over 57,000 residents from Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen have visited Taiwan as individual tourists.

Residents from Tianjin, Chongqing, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Chengdu are allowed to visit Taiwan from April 28. When residents from the other four cities can visit has not been set yet, but will be within the year, according to the agreement.