China and Taiwan began operating the first telephone hotline between the two nations on Wednesday, set up as a confidence building and tension reducing measure, with senior officials exchanging New Year's greetings.
The step was agreed during a historic meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou in Singapore last month.
Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said the first call was between Zhang Zhijun, director of the Taiwan Affairs Office, and Andrew Hsia, head of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, who wished each other happy New Year.
Zhang and Hsia also talked about the important achievements both sides had made in the past year in promoting the peaceful development of relations, spokesman Ma said.
