The ferry services between coastal areas of Fujian province on the mainland and the outlying islands of Kinmen and Matsu resumed over the weekend after a suspension of nearly three years.

Haixia, a high-speed passenger ferry sailing for Taiwan, at the Aoqian Roll-on/off Wharf in Pingtan, Fujian province. (Photo: Xinhua)

A ferry departed Kinmen at 10:30 am on Saturday with 25 passengers on board for Xiamen of Fujian, and returned to Kinmen with 65 passengers at 12:30 am, completing the first round-trip.

Long Mingbiao, deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office, and other mainland officials visited the port in Xiamen on Saturday to welcome Taiwan compatriots taking the first trip, including some officials from Kinmen, and expressed Spring Festival wishes to them.

The first ferry from Matsu to Fuzhou is scheduled on Sunday morning.

The ferry services, which were launched in 2001, were suspended by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party on Taiwan in February 2020 as part of COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control measures.

The island authorities announced last month that the ferry journeys would resume from Jan 7 to Feb 6 so that people from Kinmen and Matsu working on the mainland can return to their hometowns during the upcoming Spring Festival holiday.

Current restrictions exclude Taiwan people on the mainland from taking the ferry to Kinmen or Matsu, where they can then fly back to the island of Taiwan. The DPP authorities claimed such an arrangement is necessary to address concerns over COVID-19 spreading during stopovers in Kinmen and Matsu.

Many Taiwan business owners working on the mainland have complained about the limited ferry services as air tickets are difficult to book and much more expensive.

Long said the ferry services have been suspended for three years, causing great inconvenience to Taiwan compatriots, and the resumption marked a small step forward, but it still falls far short of people's expectations.

As the Spring Festival is approaching, many Taiwan compatriots hope to use the ferry services to facilitate their travel between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits, he said.

"They hope to return to their hometowns and reunite with their families. Public opinion shouldn't be disobeyed," he added.

Long hoped that people from all walks of life will continue to appeal for and make continuous efforts to jointly promote the full resumption of the ferry services at an early date.

As of February, 2020, over 22 million trips were made by travelers across the Straits with the services since they were put into operation in January 2001.