SHIJIAZHUANG -- North China's Hebei Province opened the first direct cargo route to Taiwan on Tuesday, with a ship loaded with 36,000 tonnes of coal leaving Qinghuadao Port for Taiwan.

The Wuxing 6 cargo ship left Qinghuadao Port, China's largest coal transfer port, for the Taitung and Kaohsiung ports in Taiwan at about 11 a.m., marking the first cargo shipment between Hebei and Taiwan.

The Wuxing 6 belongs to the Qinghuangdao Wuxing Shipping Company and received approval from the mainland's Transport Ministry in April to sail to Taiwan.