China and Taiwan signed a tariff-slashing trade pact today that boosts economic ties and further eases political tensions six decades after the rivals split amid civil war.

TAIWAN and China yesterday signed a range of deals aimed at bringing the two sides closer economically, after almost 60 years of hostilities that often took them to the brink of war.

Taiwan’s president appealed to protesters to keep rallies peaceful as the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit since 1949 arrived on the island for economic talks today amid a warming of ties between the long-time rivals.

Taiwan’s ruling party today criticised a history-making trip to Beijing by opposition Nationalist Party leaders, saying the visit plays into the hands of the communist mainland in its efforts to divide the Taiwanese people.

Chinese communist officials and a leader of Taiwan’s Nationalist Party have held the highest-level meeting between their parties since civil war split the two sides in 1949. They called for expanded economic ties.