A Boeing 747 with an undisclosed freight shipment is set to take off in the first direct chartered cargo flight between Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

A mainland passenger jet is ready to take off from Xiamen, Fujian province for Taiwan in this January 25, 2006 photo. The flight was part of chartered flight arrangement during the Spring Festival. [newsphoto]

The plane from Taiwan-based "China Airlines", will take off from the Taoyuan Airport in Taipei at 10:00 pm for the more than three-hour flight to Shanghai's Pudong International Airport.

"This will be a historic moment," said airline spokesman Johnson Sun, who refused to provide details of what the plane would be carrying.

According to local media reports, the 747 would be loaded with several tonnes of equipment for a Shanghai plant belonging to the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world's biggest contract microchip maker.

The mainland-based Cross-Strait Aviation Transport Exchange Council and the Taipei Airlines Association agreed on a framework for chartered flights for festivals and special cases on June 14.

Five chartered cargo flights will carry equipment, parts and components to be used in factories on the mainland that owned by Taiwan business people.

Chartered flights will run during Qingming, or the tomb-sweeping festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival, in addition to the Chinese lunar new year season, according to the agreement.

The two sides also agree to open chartered flights for emergency medical rescue, first aid for the handicapped and chartered cargo flights.

Direct transportation links have been cut since 1949. Under Taipei's current ban on direct links across the Taiwan Strait, all merchandise and passengers transit via third ports, normally Hong Kong or Macao.

In 2001, Taipei began to allow limited direct trade, post and transport links known as the "three mini links" between the islands of Kinmen and Matsu and selected ports in southeastern China's Fujian province.

The mainland has become Taiwan's leading overseas investment destination, with an estimated US$80 billion in mainland projects so far funded by the island's business community.

The mainland is also Taiwan's largest market, but the Taiwan authorities is still reluctant to lift the decades-old ban.